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WHO AND WHAT.' 



A COMPENDIUM 



OF 



GENERAL INFORMATION. 



COMPILED BY 

ANNAH DE PUI MILLER. 



PHILADELPHIA*. 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 

LONDON: 
16 SOUTHAMPTON STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 

1878. 

T 




ACTIOS 

,Me 



THE LIBRARY 
Off GOMOIBM 

WAMlHGTOtfi 



Copyright, 1877, by J. B. Lippincott & Co. 



DEDICATED 

TO 
MY DEAR FRIEND AND COUSIN, 

MRS. PETER HERDIC, 

WILLIAMSPORT, PA. 

IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF HER LOVING CARE THROUGH 

A LONG AND DANGEROUS ILLNESS AT HER HOUSE 

IN THE SPRING OF 1877. 



PREFACE. 



As the "dear public" usually expects a preface, I take 
pleasure in being able to gratify it, — and also myself, — by 
offering a few words in explanation of my book and the 
plan on which it is written. •' Who and What" was 
begun some ten or twelve years ago, and the questions 
were written down from time to time as I came across 
them in my reading, and were added to as I grew in years 
and understanding by others of a like character. This was 
done without the remotest idea of publication, but simply 
to take the place, for my own gratification, of an encyclo- 
paedia, of which I greatly felt the need. These questions 
were shown to friends occasionally, and always seemed to 
give them so much pleasure, that about a year ago the idea 
first presented itself to me of giving my work to the pub- 
lic, believing that it would impart to the many as much 
pleasure and real information as it had given the few. I 
wish to acknowledge most gratefully the lasting benefit 
that many authors have been to me, and to add that in 
compiling from them I have done so nearly always in 
their own language when I have taken their account alone. 
I have endeavored to abridge as much as possible, in order 
to make my descriptions concise and never tiresome. 

I am particularly indebted to "Rollin's Outlines of 
Ancient and Modern History," Cleveland's series of 
American and English Literatures, Miss Tytler on 

i* 5 



PREFACE. 



"Modern Art" and the "Old Masters," " Lippincott's 
Pronouncing Biographical Dictionary," and to Appleton's 
new and valuable "American Encyclopaedia," for infor- 
mation desired ; and for the cordial manner with which 
permission has been granted me to use these books, and 
others, — for which credit will be given in the right place, 
— I here express my thanks and appreciation. 

ANNAH DE PUI MILLER. 
Carlisle, Pa., 1877. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGB 

Who? 9 

Where? 222 

When? ........... 228 

Which? 232 

How? 237 

What? 243 



WHO? 



I. William Shakspeare. — Who was the "Bard of 
Avon"? Ans. Shakspeare. 

William Shakspeare, the greatest dramatic poet that 
ever lived, was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, in the county 
of Warwick, April 23, 1564. Nothing is known of his 
early life ; not even a letter of the wonderful poet can be 
produced. At the early age of eighteen years he married 
Anne Hathaway, a farmer's daughter, who was seven 
years older than himself, and lived near Stratford. In 
1586 he moved to London. Before this he had followed 
the trade of his father, who was a wool dealer. On first 
going to London he was an actor, and continued in 
this profession for seventeen years. In. the mean time 
he wrote his plays, and such was the success of them 
that he became the owner of several theatres. His first 
play was "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," written about 1590. 
He wrote some thirty-five dramas in all, among which 
are " Hamlet," "Merchant of Venice," "Macbeth," 
"Othello," etc. He had one son and two daughters. 
The former died in 1596, and the two latter left no 
issue, so the great Shakspeare left no lineal descendants. 
"Though he lived in familiar intercourse with the wits, 
nobles, and poets of his day, he looked forward to the 
time when he should retire to his native town, and with 
this view he purchased New Place, the principal house in 
Stratford, with more than one hundred acres of ground 
attached. Four years were spent by him in this dignified 
retirement, when he died on the 23d of April, 1616, 
having just attained his fifty-second year." He is buried 
in Stratford-upon-Avon, but there is a monument erected 
to his memory in Westminster Abbey. 

a* 9 



IO WHOt 



2. James Thomson. — Who was the "Sage of St. 
Alban's"? Ans. James Thomson. 

James Thomson was the son of a Scottish clergyman, 
and was born in the year 1700. After completing his 
academic course at the University of Edinburgh he en- 
tered upon the study of divinity; this he quitted for 
poetry, and started poor and friendless for London with 
the manuscript of "Winter" in his pocket. He had 
great difficulty in finding a purchaser for it, and the price 
given was trifling. In 1726 it was published, and after 
a period of neglect was admired and applauded, and a 
number of editions speedily followed. His "Summer" 
appeared in 1727, "Spring" in 1728, and "Autumn" in 
1730. These are called "The Seasons." His greatest 
poem is his "Castle of Indolence," which he completed 
in May, 1748. He had been at this for years. He did 
not long survive its publication ; a neglected cold settled 
into fever, which carried him off August 27, 1748. (See 
15 in "What?") 

3. Sir Walter Scott.— Who was the "Great Un- 
known"? Ans. Sir Walter Scott. 

Sir Walter Scott, a great poet and romance-writer, 
was born in Edinburgh, August 15, 1771. His father 
was Walter Scott, a "Writer to the Signet" (see 53 
in "What?"), in the Scottish capital. Sir Walter re- 
ceived the chief portion of his education at the high 
school in Edinburgh, then under the care of the cele- 
brated Dr. Adams. During the four years that he re- 
mained there he does not appear to have displayed any 
remarkable abilities, except for story-telling, in which he 
excelled. In October, 1783, he entered the University 
of Edinburgh, and left it in a year or two without having 
added much to his stock of classical knowledge. At the 
age of fifteen a breaking of a blood-vessel brought on an 
illness which, to use his own words, " threw him back 
on the kingdom of fiction, as if by a species of fatality." 
He was forbidden for some time to speak or move, and 
did nothing but read from morning till night, and by a 
perusal of old romances, old plays, and epic poetry, un- 
consciously amassed the materials for his future writings. 
In his sixteenth year he began studying for the bar, and in 



WHO? n 



1792 was an advocate ; but he never liked the law, and, as 
his father was in affluent circumstances, he resolved to 
devote himself to literary pursuits. In 1797 he married 
Margaret Carpenter, the daughter of a French refugee. 
In 1802 appeared his first publication of any note, "The 
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," in two volumes. 
This displayed much curious and abstruse learning, and 
gained for the author considerable reputation as a his- 
torical and traditionary poet. In 1805 he published the 
"Lay of the Last Minstrel," which was composed at the 
rate of a canto a week, and for which he received six 
hundred pounds. In 1808 appeared "Marmion," which 
he sold for one thousand pounds; he says the extraor- 
dinary success of this poem induced him for the first and 
last time in his life to feel something approaching to 
vanity. This was succeeded by an edition of Dryden's 
works, in eighteen volumes, with notes, historical and 
explanatory, and a life of the author. In 1810 he com- 
posed his "Lady of the Lake," which is generally con- 
sidered the finest specimen of his poetical genius. He 
soon after left the field of poetry to try his hand at fic- 
titious prose, and in 1814 appeared " Waverley, or 'Tis 
Sixty Years Since," a tale of the rebellion of 1745. 
Though the name of its distinguished author was not 
attached to it, it soon rose to great popularity. Within 
a few years " Waverley" was followed by that brilliant 
series of prose fictions which made the "Great Un- 
known," as he was called, the marvel of the age. From 
1815 to 1819 appeared successively "Guy Mannering," 
"The Antiquary," and the first series of the " Tales of 
my Landlord," containing "The Black Dwarf" and "Old 
Mortality;" "Rob Roy" and the second series of the 
"Tales of my Landlord," containing "The Heart of 
Mid-Lothian;" and the third series, containing "The 
Bride of Lammermoor," and "A Legend of Montrose." 
In 1 82 1 appeared "Kenilworth," soon followed by "The 
Pirate," etc. The great success of all these works en- 
abled Scott to carry out the long-cherished object of his 
wishes, and possess a large baronial estate. In 181 1 he 
purchased one hundred acres of land on the banks of the 
Tweed, near Melrose, for four thousand pounds, and gave 



T2 WHO? 



the immortal name of Abbotsford to this estate. Other 
purchases of land followed, which, together with the grand 
mansion, cost over fifty thousand pounds. In this princely 
residence the poet received for years, and entertained 
with magnificent hospitality, innumerable visitors of every 
rank, including princes, peers, and poets. In the mean 
time he entered into partnership with his old school-fel- 
low, James Ballantyne, then rising into extensive business 
as a printer in Edinburgh. The copartnership was kept 
a secret, and to all appearances the house of Ballantyne & 
Co. was doing a prosperous business. In the great com- 
mercial distress of 1825 and 1826, his publishers, Con- 
stable & Co., stopped payment, and the failure of the 
firm of Ballantyne for a very large sum immediately fol- 
lowed. These two firms involved Scott for more than 
one hundred thousand pounds ; but these immense losses 
did not dishearten him. He most nobly and courageously 
came forward, and insisted that he should not be dealt 
with as an ordinary bankrupt, and pledged himself that 
the labors of his future life should be unremittingly de- 
voted to the discharge of his debts. He more than ful- 
filled his honorable promise, but the great toil which he 
submitted to for the next few years shortened his life. His 
self-sacrifice realized for his creditors in two years' time 
the enormous amount of forty thousand pounds. Soon 
after his death the principal of the whole Ballantyne debt 
was paid up by his executors. "This moral heroism has 
encircled the brow of Sir Walter Scott with greener laurels 
than all the works of poetry and fiction he ever wrote." 
In 1826 he removed from his luxuriant home at Abbots- 
ford to Edinburgh, where he entered bravely upon his 
renewed labors. These great labors were too much for 
him, and in 1830 (four years later) he had an attack of 
paralysis ; still, he wrote several hours every day. In 
April, 1 83 1, he had a second and more severe attack, and 
was prevailed upon to take a foreign tour : he sailed for 
Malta and Naples, remaining in the latter place from 
December, 1831, to the following April. In May he set 
his face homeward, arriving in London 13th of June. He 
was taken to Abbotsford a perfect wreck in body and 
mind of what he once was. Here he died in the presence 



WHO? 13 



of all his children on the 21st of September, 1832. One 
of Scott's daughters married John Gibson Lockhart, who 
afterwards became Scott's biographer, and was with him 
when he died. 

4. Alexander Pope. — Who was the "Little Man of 
Twickenham"? Ans. Alexander Pope. 

Alexander Pope was born in London the 22d of May, 
1688. His father was a linen-draper, and had accumu- 
lated considerable fortune by his trade. In person Pope 
was short and deformed, of great weakness and delicacy 
of body, and his early education was mostly domestic. 
At the age of twelve, having made considerable progress 
in the Greek and Latin languages, he resolved to pursue 
his own plan of study, and his reading, of which he was 
excessively fond, became very extensive and varied. At 
a very early period he manifested a great fondness for 
poetry. He says of himself, — 

" I lisp'd in numbers, and the numbers came." 

When but ten years of age he had read Ogilby's Homer. 
Before he was twelve he wrote his "Ode on Solitude," 
which was remarkable for the precocity of sentiment it 
exhibited, and for that delicacy of language and harmony 
of versification for which he afterwards became so emi- 
nent. At the age of sixteen he wrote his "Pastorals." 
At eighteen appeared his "Messiah," a sacred eclogue in 
imitation of Virgil's "Pollio." In 1709, before he had 
reached the age of twenty-one, he finished his " Essay on 
Criticism." In 171 2 he published that remarkable heroi- 
comic poem "The Rape of the Lock," in which he has 
exhibited, more than in any other of his works, the highest 
faculty of the poet — the creative. But his "Eloisa to 
Abelard" is perhaps the most popular of his poems. 
He had many envious critics, whom he attacks in his 
" Dunciad." Pope was courted and flattered by the wits 
and nobles of his day while he was yet a mere youth. 
Like Moore, he was devotedly attached to his mother, and 
repaid her lavishing fondness with a heart full of tender- 
ness for her. He was filled with grief at her death, and 
said she was the best friend he ever had had. He never 
married. He translated Homer's "Odyssey" and "Iliad," 



14 



WHO? 



netting by these two books alone the enormous sum of 
eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-six pounds. He 
died of dropsy in the chest on May 31, 1744. Pope and 
Addison quarreled unmercifully, and his " Atticus" was 
intended for Addison. Among his friends were Dean 
Swift, John Gay, Atterbury, and Savage. The two sisters, 
Martha and Therese Blount, and Lady Mary Wortley Mon- 
tagu are familiar to all from their association with Pope. 

5. James Hogg. — Who was the "Ettrick Shepherd" ? 
Ans. James Hogg. 

James Hogg was born January 25, 1772, in a cottage 
on the banks of the Ettrick, a tributary of the Tweed, in 
Selkirkshire. Died 21st November, 1835. Hogg was 
commonly known as the " Ettrick Shepherd," on account 
of his father's losing his fortune when James was six years 
old and turning shepherd. When a lad seven years of 
age he was compelled to go out to service, and herded a 
few cows for a neighboring farmer. His wages for the 
half-year were a ewe lamb and a new pair of shoes. That 
winter he returned home and had three months' schooling; 
he says he got in a class so far advanced that they could 
read the Bible. He tried writing, but each letter was 
nearly an inch in length ; nor till his dying day did he 
write well, poor fellow ! He never had but six months' 
schooling in his life. If this would always make great 
men, the country would be full of them ! He attended 
so faithfully to his flocks that he became assistant shep- 
herd. On Whitsunday, 1790, when he was eighteen years 
old, he hired himself to Mr. Laidlaw, of Black House, 
whom he served as shepherd for nine years ; as he had 
many valuable books he placed them at Hogg's disposal, 
who eagerly devoured their rich contents. At twenty- 
four years of age he made his first attempt at regular 
verse-writing; his first song published was "Donald Mc- 
Donald." Sir Walter Scott while sheriff of Selkirk was 
collecting materials for "The Minstrelsy of the Scottish 
Border" and was introduced to Hogg, who showed him 
some of his poetry, which Scott warmly praised. After 
spending some hours in his company he declared he had 
never met a man who possessed a more undoubted origi- 
nality of genius than Hogg. From this first meeting sprang 



WHO ? 



T 5 



a life-long friendship between the two. In 1813 appeared 
"The Queen's Wake," which established his reputation 
as a true poet. "This legendary poem is composed of a 
series of tales and lyrical legends, supposed to be sung 
before Mary, Queen of Scots, by the native bards of Scot- 
land, assembled at a royal wake (or night-meeting) at the 
palace of Holyrood, in order that the fair queen might 
prove 

"The wondrous power of Scottish song." 

Hogg married Margaret, third daughter of Peter Phillips, 
a farmer of Mouswald Mains, Annandale. 

6. Charles Lamb.— Who is "Elia"? Ans. Charles 
Lamb. 

Charles Lamb was a distinguished essayist and critic, 
born in London, February n, 1775. At the age of seven 
he entered the school of Christ Hospital, where he re- 
mained till he was fourteen. After this for a short time 
he was employed by his brother in the South Sea House ; 
of this he gave a most graphic and amusing account in 
one of his inimitable essays. In 1793 he obtained an 
appointment in the India House, where he remained till 
1825, when he was allowed to retire on a handsome pen- 
sion. " The years Lamb passed in his chambers in the 
Inner Temple were perhaps the happiest of his life. Here 
the glory of his Wednesday nights shone forth in their 
greatest lustre. He was surrounded by a group of at- 
tached friends, some of whom were men of the rarest 
genius." He never married, devoting his life to his 
sister Mary, who was subject to spells of lunacy, and 
while she was in the asylum Lamb deeply mourned her. 
These periods lasted some six or eight months ; she could 
always tell when they were coming on, and then did 
everything she could for her loved brother's comfort 
during her absence. They were buried in the same grave 
in the quiet church-yard of Edmonton. Lamb died on 
the 27th of December, 1834. He enjoyed the society of 
such men as Coleridge, Wordsworth, Southey, and his 
biographer, Sergeant Talfourd. His first appearance as an 
author was in a small volume of poetry published by his 
friend Coleridge in 1797, to which he contributed various 
pieces. A few years afterwards appeared "Old Blind 



!6 WHO? 



Margaret" and "Rosamond Gray," a tale of great sim- 
plicity and sweetness. The most celebrated of all Lamb's 
works were his essays signed " Elia," which were published 
in various periodicals, chiefly the "London Magazine," 
between the years 1820 and 1833. The adoption of the 
signature "Elia" was entirely accidental. His first con- 
tribution to the "Magazine" was a description of the old 
South Sea House, where he had been clerk for a few months 
some thirty years before, and of its inmates, who had long 
passed away ; and remembering the name of a gay, light- 
hearted foreigner who fluttered there at that time, by name 
of " Elia," he signed his name to the essay. In 1830 ap- 
peared a small volume of poems by Lamb called " Album 
Verses," but as a poet he does not take a very high rank. 
In prose few have surpassed him. Assisted by his sister, 
who had a refined and literary taste, he wrote three 
very popular books for children, namely, " Mrs. Leister's 
School, or the History of Several Young Ladies, written 
by Themselves," "Tales from Shakspeare," and "The 
Adventures of Ulysses." A volume bearing the title of 
"The Last Essays of Elia" appeared in 1833, not long 
before his death. 

7. Azrael. — Who is Azrael ? 

Azrael is an angel in the Jewish and Mohammedan my- 
thology who watches over the dying and separates the 
soul from the body. 

8. Samuel Rogers. — Who in 1850 was the oldest 
poet ? Ajis. Samuel Rogers. 

Samuel Rogers was the son of an eminent banker in 
London, and was born in that city July 31, 1763. (See 
19, 42, in "Who?") He presents a rare instance of 
great wealth allied to great talents, untiring industry in 
literary pursuits, and pure morals. No expense was spared 
in his education, and after leaving the University he trav- 
eled through most of the countries in Europe. On his 
return he published, in 1786, "An Ode to Superstition, 
and other Poems," which was well received. When he was 
thirty he gave to the world the poem which made his repu- 
tation, "The Pleasures of Memory." It is said that no 
poem of equal size ever cost its author so many flours to 
produce. Not satisfied with correcting and recorrecting 



WHO ? 



17 



it again and again himself, he read it to various friends 
for the benefit of their criticism, and the result is that it 
is most perfectly finished throughout, each part harmoniz- 
ing with the other, and every line carefully and tastefully 
elaborated. In 1819 he published his " Human Life," 
which, next to his "Pleasures of Memory," is his most 
finished production. He died on the 18th of December, 
1855, when in his ninety-third year. Rogers's longevity 
was one of the chief sources of the public interest felt for 
him in his later life, as during the last twenty or thirty years 
of it he produced very little. In his character of a super- 
annuated poet, living on the reputation of his past per- 
formances, drawing the artists and wits and men of rank 
of a more modern age around him, and entertaining them 
with his reminiscences of the notable persons and events 
of former days, he held a very conspicuous position in the 
best circles of London society. Few were more agreeable 
in manner and conversation. His house in St. James's 
Square was filled with the finest and rarest pictures, busts, 
books, and gems. His conversation was rich and various, 
abounding in wit, eloquence, shrewd observation, and in- 
teresting personal anecdote, for he had been familiar with 
almost every distinguished author, orator, and artist for 
the last fifty years. His beautiful home was a favorite re- 
sort, where he entertained with an unostentatious hospi- 
tality, greeting his guests with a cordiality that made 
them feel at rest and at ease in his delightful presence. 

9. Bryan Waller Procter.— Who is "Barry Corn- 
wall" ? Ans. Bryan Waller Procter. 

Bryan Waller Procter was born in London in 1790; 
died there October 5, 1874. His nom de plume is an im- 
perfect anagram, adopted by him when he first began to 
write, and even better known than his own name. Procter 
was educated at Harrow, studied law, and was admitted 
to the bar in 1831. For many years he was commissioner 
of lunacy, but resigned in i860. His "Dramatic Scenes, 
and other Poems" was published in 1819, and was fol- 
lowed by " Mirandola, a Tragedy," "The Flood of Thes- 
saly, and other Poems," etc. But that Dy which he is 
now best known, and will be by posterity, is his "English 
Songs, and other Small Poems." Some say he is the best 

2* 



1 8 WHO? 



of the modern English song-writers. The gifted writer of 
sacred lyrics, Adelaide Anne Procter, is a daughter of 
Bryan Waller Procter. 

io. John Wilson. — Who is "Christopher North"? 
Ans. John Wilson. 

John Wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland, May 19, 
1785, and died at his brother's, near Edinburgh, April 
3, 1854. His mother was a sister of Robert Sym. He 
married Miss Jane Penny, an English beauty and heiress, 
who did not live long. It was a love-match, and he took 
her death very hard. He was Professor of Moral Phi- 
losophy in the University of Edinburgh. His father was 
an opulent manufacturer in Paisley, and John was sent for 
his elementary education to the Glasgow University, and 
in due time was transferred to Magdalene College, Ox- 
ford. After being four years at Oxford he purchased a 
small but beautiful estate, named Elleray, o.n the banks of 
Lake Windermere, where he went to reside. He was 
admitted to the Scottish bar, but made no progress as a 
lawyer. In 1812 he published "The Isle of Palms," a 
poem which at once placed him among the best of living 
authors; but his permanent reputation will rest upon his 
prose writings. For many years he was editor of "Black- 
wood's Magazine" (see 117 in "What?"), and raised the 
whole tone and character of magazine literature, for in 
this he poured forth the riches of his fancy, learning, and 
taste. The various essays on Spenser and Homer, the 
essay on Burns, and those inimitably witty and brilliant 
conversations known as " Noctes Ambrosianae," afford 
perhaps the finest specimens of Wilson's prose. The 
most valuable of these contributions have been published 
in three volumes, entitled "The Recreations of Christo- 
pher North. ' ' His poetical works are in two volumes, con- 
sisting of "The Isle of Palms," "The City of the Plague," 
and several other smaller pieces. In 1822 he wrote 
"Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life." In March, 1823, 
"The Trials of Margaret Wilson, an Orphan," appeared. 
In 1825 he published "The Foresters." He was an inti- 
mate friend of Sir Walter Scott. Shelton Mackenzie says 
of him, "He was one of the greatest writers and most 
brilliant orators of his time. Men who write well can 



WHO? 



19 



rarely talk with eloquence; but John Wilson could do 
both. Byron could not; neither could Scott, who was 
content to be merely a speaker without committing him- 
self. Southey said he would as soon sink through the 
earth as to undertake to make a speech in public. Words- 
worth's talk at his own table was a monologue; but he 
said how any man could face a thousand people and arrest 
their attention he could not understand. Rogers's table- 
talk was charming, but he could not speak in public." 
June 25, 1841, Wilson presided as chairman at a large 
dinner in Edinburgh, given in honor of Charles Dickens. 

11. Thomas De Quincey. — Who is known as the 
" English Opium-Eater" ? Ans. Thomas De Quincey. 

Thomas De Quincey was born the 15th of August, 1785, 
and was the son of a Manchester merchant. His father 
died when he was quite young, leaving his widow an in- 
come of some two thousand pounds a year ; so the young 
Thomas did not suffer from want in his early life. He 
received a liberal education, first in the Manchester Gram- 
mar School, and afterwards at Oxford, where he resided 
from his eighteenth to his twenty-first year. How he 
spent his time there he has given us no account, but from 
his extensive acquirements it must have been profitably 
occupied, for he was remarkable even then for his rare 
conversational powers and for his extraordinary stock of 
information upon every subject that was started. At an 
early age he adopted the terrible habit of opium-eating, 
which clung to him his life through. He took eight thou- 
sand drops a day, and when he came down from three 
hundred to one hundred and sixty per day he thought he 
had won a great victory over himself. In 1808 he be- 
came acquainted with Wordsworth, Lamb, and Coleridge, 
and took up his abode at Grasmere, where he resided ten 
or eleven years. " He leased here Wordsworth's cottage, 
married a lady to whom he had long been attached, 
and with her, together with the pleasures derived from 
the scenery of ' the Lakes,' a good library, and his loved 
drug, led the life of a scholar, a dreamer, and a volup- 
tuary." It was not till 1820 that he turned his attention 
to literature except for amusement, when pecuniary cir- 
cumstances compelled him to become a contributor to the 



20 WHO ? 



"London Magazine," in which he published in numbers 
that remarkable work, which created quite a sensation at 
the time, " The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. " 
De Quincey holds a high rank among British prose-writers, 
and will always command the admiration of literary men. 
He died on the 8th of December, 1859, leaving five 
children, three daughters and two sons. The "Quarterly 
Review" says, "His style is superb, his powers of rea- 
soning unsurpassed, his imagination is warm and brilliant, 
and his humor both masculine and delicate. Yet, with 
this singular combination of gifts, he is comparatively 
little known outside of that small circle of literary men 
who love literature for its own sake." His writings have 
been published by Ticknor& Fields, of Boston, in twenty 
volumes. They comprise "Essays on the Poets," "Bio- 
graphical Essays," "Miscellaneous Essays," "Literary 
Reminiscences," "Philosophical Writers," etc. 

12. Charles Kingsley .^- Who wrote "Yeast" ? Ans. 
Charles Kingsley. 

The Rev. Charles Kingsley, D.D., was born near Dart- 
more, Devonshire, England, in 1819, and was educated at 
Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he obtained distin- 
guished honors. In 1844 ne became curate, and soon 
after rector of Eversley, in Hampshire. This same year 
appeared his first work, "Village Sermons," which were 
much admired for their wisdom as well as for their 
clear and simple style. In 1848 appeared " The Saint's 
Tragedy, or the True Story of Elizabeth of Hungary," 
which was a fair and truthful picture of the piety of the 
Middle Ages. His labors now took a new direction, and 
he interested himself deeply in the amelioration and 
Christianization of the working classes. One of the 
fruits of this noble spirit was "Alton Locke, Tailor and 
Poet," a novel of great power and interest, whose hero 
was taken from a London workshop. This was followed 
by "Yeast, a Problem," showing the condition of the 
English agricultural laborer. In 1859 he was appointed 
Professor of Modern History in the University of Cam- 
bridge. He married Miss Grenfell, sister of the. wife of 
Froude, the historian. 

13. Charlotte Bronte. — Who was " Currer Bell"? 
Ans. Charlotte Bronte. 



WHO? 21 



Charlotte Bronte was one of the most original novelists 
of her time, and was born at Thornton, Berkshire, April 
21, 1816. Her father was a curate of Irish descent, — a 
stern, proud, taciturn man in his family, — and in 182 1 
removed from Thornton to Haworth, in the same county. 
Soon after, the mother died, and Charlotte when but eight 
years old was sent with three of her sisters to Cowan's 
Bridge Boarding-School, the discomforts and tyranny of 
which she afterwards so graphically portrays in her novel 
of "Jane Eyre." Two of the sisters soon died, and 
Charlotte returned to a home that had very few comforts, 
as her father was very poor. The two remaining sisters, 
with Charlotte, determined to exert themselves to make 
the last days of their solitary father more cheerful and 
comfortable, so in 1842 Charlotte and Emily went to 
Brussels to qualify themselves for teaching foreign lan- 
guages. On their return they advertised that they would 
receive pupils in the parsonage, but none came. Then 
the three sisters, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne ventured to 
publish a volume of their poems under the names of Cur- 
rer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. The volume had little success, 
and Charlotte ventured a prose tale, "The Professor." 
This was rejected by the London publisher, but the re- 
jection was sweetened by his telling her to try her hand 
at another book. The fruit of this advice was soon beheld 
in "Jane Eyre," published in 1847, — a work of startling 
interest and power, which at once made the author famous. 
In 1849 followed "Shirley," and in 1852 " Villette" : 
the last work of this woman of genius. In June, 1854, 
she married her father's curate, Mr. Nichol, but died in 
the following March in her thirty-ninth year. Emily 
wrote " Wuthering Heights," and died in 1848, and Anne, 
who wrote "Agnes Grey," died in 1849. There was a 
brother, who led a wild, dissipated life, and caused them 
all much unhappiness. 

14. Shakspeare. — Who was the first of English dram- 
atists? Ans. William Shakspeare. (See 1 in "Who?") 

15. Geoffrey Chaucer. — Who is styled " Father of 
English Poetry" ? Ans. Geoffrey Chaucer. 

Geoffrey Chaucer's name shines as one of the brightest 
in English literature. He was born about 1328, — though 



22 WHO? 



all attempts to fix the precise year have utterly failed. 
His parentage is unknown, but " it is thought his father's 
name was Chaucer," — we find this fact given as a startling 
statement, — nor is there any certainty where he was edu- 
cated. His great genius early attracted the notice of the 
reigning sovereign, Edward III., and he soon became the 
most popular person in the brilliant court of that monarch. 
It was in this circle of royalty that he became attached to 
a lady whom he afterwards married, Philippa Pyknard. 
She was maid of honor to the queen Philippa, and a 
younger sister of the wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of 
Lancaster. By this connection, therefore, Chaucer ac- 
quired the powerful support of the Lancastrian family, 
and during his life his fortune fluctuated with theirs. To 
his courtly accomplishments he added much by foreign 
travel, having been commissioned by the king to attend 
to some important matters of state in Genoa in 1372. 
While in Italy he became acquainted with Petrarch, and 
probably with Boccaccio, whose works enriched his mind 
with fresh stores of learning. On his return from Italy 
he was made controller of the customs of wine and wool, 
the revenue from which office, together with a pension 
that was granted him, gave him a liberal support. During 
the entire reign of Edward III. Chaucer's genius and con- 
nections insured to him prosperity, and also during the 
period of John of Gaunt's influence in the succeeding 
reign of Richard II. But during the waning fortunes of 
that nobleman Chaucer also suffered, and was imprisoned 
for a time; but on the return of the Duke of Lancaster 
from Spain, in 1389, he had once more a steady protector, 
and when Henry IV. came to the throne he had an addi- 
tional annuity conferred upon him. He did not live long 
to enjoy this accession of fortune, dying the 25th of Oc- 
tober, 1400. He is buried in Westminster Abbey. His 
fame chiefly rests upon his "Canterbury Tales," written 
"•in the calm evening of a busy life," when he was about 
sixty years old. (See 66 in " Who ?") 

16. Joanna Baillie. — Who is called the "second 
English dramatist" ? Ans. Joanna Baillie. 

Joanna Baillie was the daughter of a Scottish clergy- 
man, and born at Bothwell, on the banks of the Clyde, in 



WHO ? 23 



1762. During the greater part of her life she lived with 
a maiden sister Agnes,— also a poetess, — to whom she ad- 
dressed her beautiful ''Birthday Poem." She early re- 
moved with her sister to London, where their brother, Sir 
Matthew Baillie, was settled as a physician ; there her 
earliest poetical works appeared anonymously. Her first 
dramatic efforts were published in 1798, under the title 
of "A Series of Plays, in which it is attempted to De- 
lineate the Stronger Passions of the Mind, each Passion 
being the subject of a Tragedy and a Comedy." She 
was then in her thirty-sixth year. A second volume ap- 
peared in 1802, and a third in 181 2. During the inter- 
val she gave the world a volume of miscellaneous dramas 
in 1804, and the "Family Legend" in 18 10, — a tragedy 
founded on Highland tradition, and through the influence 
of Sir Walter Scott was brought out in the Edinburgh 
Theatre. The celebrated actor John Kemble brought out 
the only " Play of the Passions" that was ever represented 
on the stage. This was " De Montfort" ; he played it 
eleven nights. In 1823 she published a long-promised col- 
lection of " Poetic Miscellanies," and in 1836 three more 
volumes of plays. She died on the 23d of February, 
185 1, retaining her faculties till the last. A short time 
before her death Miss Baillie completed an entire edition 
of her dramatic works. Upon these she laid out her chief 
strength. In their general character they are marked by 
great originality and invention. " Her knowledge of the 
human heart, of its wide range for good or evil, of its mul- 
tifarious, changeful, and wayward nature, was great, and 
her power of portraying character has rarely been ex- 
celled." Her female portraits are especially beautiful, 
and possess an unusual degree of elevation and purity. 

17. Alfred Tennyson. — Who in 1876 was Poet- 
Laureate of England ? Ans. Alfred Tennyson. 

Alfred Tennyson is the son of Rev. G. C. Tennyson, a 
rector in Gomersly, Lincolnshire, England, where our poet 
was born in 1809. He was educated at Trinity College, 
Cambridge, and since then has led a life of retirement, or 
rather of a recluse, in the Isle of Wight. In 1865 he 
complained of being annoyed by impertinent intruders. 
In 1874 he was offered by Queen Victoria the baronetcy, 



24 WHO ? 



but he declined it. There is nothing eventful in his biog- 
raphy, and beyond a small circle he is seldom seen. In 
1830 he first appeared as an author, by publishing " Poems, 
chiefly Lyrical. ' ' Three years later came a second volume, 
containing " The May Queen," "The Miller's Daugh- 
ter," " The Lotos-Eaters," etc. In 1843 appeared poems 
in two volumes, including many of his former productions 
considerably altered, with the addition of many new 
ones, "Locksley Hall," "The Lord of Burleigh," etc. 
In 1847 came "The Princess, a Medley," and in 1850 
" In Memoriam." This last poem was a tribute to Arthur 
Henry Hallam, son of the celebrated historian. Mr. 
Hal lam was on the point of marrying Tennyson's sister 
when he sickened and died. It was near the publishing 
of the "In Memoriam," that Tennyson, on the death 
of Wordsworth, was made poet-laureate. In 1855 came 
"Maud, and other Poems;" in 1859, "The Idylls of the 
King," and still later, " Enoch Arden," etc. Soon after 
he was created poet-laureate the University of Oxford con- 
ferred upon him the degree D.C.L. A great deal that 
Tennyson has written is misty, obscure, and enigmatical, 
but everything that leaves his pen is pure, and on the 
side of Christian truth. Many of his minor poems are 
beautiful in thought and expression, but the longer ones 
must be read and re-read to gather their meaning, and 
even then one is not always sure that he has the right 
one. In 1851 Mr. Tennyson married Emily, daughter 
of Henry Sellwood, and settled at Farringford, Fresh- 
water, Isle of Wight. 

18. Who were some of Tennyson's predecessors in the 
laureateship? A?is. Benjamin Jonson, Thomas Shad- 
well, John Dryden, Nicholas Rowe, Robert Southey, 
Henry James Pye, Edmund Spenser, William Wordsworth, 
Thomas Warton, William Whitehead, Colley Cibber, and 
Sir William Davenant. 

1. Benjamin Jonson, or as he familiarly called him- 
self, "Ben," was an eminent English dramatist, the con- 
temporary and friend of Shakspeare, and born at Westmin- 
ster, England, in 1573. His family was originally of the 
south of Scotland, no doubt cadets of the old border clan 
of Johnstone, of which the Lairds of Lackwood, ances- 



WHO ? 



25 



tors of the marquises of Annandale, were the chiefs. 
His grandfather had migrated from Annandale to Carlisle, 
and afterwards entered the service of Henry VIII. His 
father suffered imprisonment and confiscation of property 
under Queen Mary for his adherence to the Protestant 
faith ; but living into the reign of Queen Bess, he became 
a preacher, and lived till 1573. Benjamin was a posthu- 
mous son, born about a month after his father's death. 
All that he tells us of himself is, " that he was brought up 
poorly, sent to school by a friend, and afterwards put to 
a craft which he could not endure." This occupation was 
bricklayer, and Fuller states that Ben assisted in building 
a part of Lincoln's Inn, having a trowel in his hand and 
a book in his pocket. He enlisted in the army, and served 
during one or two campaigns in the Low Countries. Before 
he was twenty years of age he was married, and earning 
a precarious subsistence by acting at the Curtain Theatre 
in Shoreditch, and writing for the stage. In 1598 his 
comedy of "Every Man in his Humour" was performed 
by the lord chamberlain's seryants at the Globe Theatre. 
Shakspeare was one of the original performers, and ac- 
cording to a tradition mentioned by Rowe, it was in con- 
sequence of his friendly recommendation that the play 
was accepted and brought on the stage. The peculiar 
merits of this comedy, and the leading characteristics of 
Jonson's dramatic genius, were such that it has been said 
that before the appearance of this first play of Jonson's 
English comedy scarcely existed. Jonson never improved 
upon his first work. His "Bobadil" and " Kitely" are 
his most successful inventions in the way of comic portrait- 
ure; and though his later comedies — "The Alchemist," 
" Volpone, or The Fox," and "The Silent Woman" — 
display greater affluence of dramatic powers and lan- 
guage, and a wider range of character and incident, they 
depart wholly from the simplicity of nature, and are dis- 
figured by pedantic and over-labored description. The 
brilliant commencement of his career as an author was 
clouded by an event which threw him into prison, and, 
as he said, came near bringing him to the gallows. He 
quarreled with a brother actor named Gabriel Spencer; 
a duel ensued, and Jonson killed his antagonist, though 
b 3 



26 WHO ? 



the latter had a sword ten inches longer than his own. 
In prison Jonson was visited by a Romish priest, who 
converted him, and for twelve years he remained in that 
communion. In 1599 he produced "Every Man out of 
his Humour/' a comedy which attracted Queen Elizabeth 
to the theatre. Elizabeth did not care much for the 
drama, but on the accession of James I. the stage took a 
new impetus. As long as King James lived Jonson pro- 
duced a masque every year on Twelfth Night, and re- 
ceived a pension of one hundred merks. He was now at 
his height in popularity as a dramatist, though experi- 
encing frequent reverses as to public favor and the recep- 
tion to his plays, all of which he affected to despise and 
condemn. He bore himself loftily to the world, but had 
gathered around him a knot of young admirers, of whom 
he was the assumed poetical father. The scene of their 
festivities was a great room, "The Apollo," in the Devil 
Tavern, near Temple Bar. Jonson was also a frequenter 
of the Mermaid Tavern in Friday Street, where he had 
higher intellects to contend with, as Shakspeare, Beau- 
mont, Fletcher, Selden, Carew, Donne, Raleigh, etc. 
In 1613 Ben Jonson visited France in the capacity of 
governor to Sir Walter Raleigh's son ; this was an office 
for which the dramatist's habits peculiarly unfitted him, 
he being altogether too fond of his canary ! He tells 
of himself that the "knavish youth" on one occasion 
caused him to be drunken, laid him on a car, and had 
him drawn by pioneers through the streets, at every corner 
showing his governor stretched out. Jonson was con- 
sidered arrogant and self-opinionated. Evil days came 
with advance of years. In 1628 he was struck by palsy, 
and seems at first to have been neglected by the new sov- 
ereign, Charles I. He alluded to necessities and sufferings 
in the epilogue to his play, " The New Sun." The audi- 
ence ungenerously hissed the play, but the king sent him a 
present of one hundred pounds. Thus encouraged, Ben 
ventured to solicit, as a compensation for the unjust cen- 
sures and bad taste of the age, that his yearly pension of 
one hundred merks should be raised to pounds, and Charles 
granted the petition. He added also, what was perhaps 
not less welcome, a tierce of Jonson's favorite canary wine, 



WHO ? 



27 



which was continued yearly during his life, and descended 
to his successors, the poets-laureate. The annual stipend and 
tierce of canary, with the produce of plays and masques, 
should have secured comfort to the poet's declining years; 
but Ben was an improvident and bountiful liver. In every 
department of poetry except the epic Jonson challenged 
and won success, if not from contemporaries, at least from 
posterity. His irrepressible pedantry and overcharged 
" humors," with his grossness, which was the vice of his 
age, repel ordinary readers from his plays, and have ban- 
ished them from the stage, but his masculine sense, ob- 
servation, wit, and fancy constitute his right to be con- 
sidered a great original master in our literature, and as 
second only to Shakspeare. He died August 6, 1637, 
and was buried in Westminster Abbey. A pavement- 
stone marked the spot, inscribed "O Rare Ben Jonson." 
" This was done," says Aubrey, " at the charge of Jack 
Young (afterwards knighted), who, walking there when 
the grave was covering, gave the fellow eighteen pence to 
cut it." This stone has since been replaced by an uninter- 
esting square, but the brief and pregnant inscription can 
never be forgotten, and supersedes any more elaborate 
epitaph. 

2. Thomas Shadwell, a dramatic writer, well known 
as the hero of Dryden's satire of " MacFlecknoe," was 
born in Norfolk, England, in 1640, of an ancient Staf- 
fordshire family. He was educated at Caius College, 
Cambridge, and subsequently went to study law at the 
Inner Temple. Disgusted with the drudgery attendant 
upon legal pursuits, he quitted law and London together, 
and passed some time in foreign travel. Returning to 
England, he betook himself to writing for the stage, and 
gained considerable reputation among the reigning wits 
of the time — of whom the chief were Dryden, Otway, 
and Rochester — as a smart, witty talker, but he was pro- 
nounced much too hasty a writer. Shadwell, who was a 
large, round, unwieldy man, set up as a second Ben Jon- 
son, and in eating and drinking he must be confessed to 
have rivaled his master, but he came very far short of him 
in genius. He rose to be poet-laureate to James II. on 
the retirement of Dryden in 1688, and was one of the 



28 WHO? 



most important writers of the Whig party. The great 
defect of Shadwell in dramatic composition seems to have 
been precipitation. Rochester says that he had unques- 
tionable genius, but his artistic skill was below mediocrity. 
His lordship further adds, " If Shadwell had burnt all he 
wrote, and printed all he spoke, he would have had more 
wit and humor than any other poet." A complete edition 
of Shadwell's works was published in 1720, in 4 vols., 
i2mo. His dramatic works are "The Sullen Lovers," 
1668; " The Royal Shepherdess," 1669; "The Humor- 
ist," 1671; "The Miser," 1672; " Epson Wells," 1673: 
"Psyche," 1675; " The Libertine," 1676; " Timon of 
Athens," 1678; "A True Widow," 1679 ; " The Woman 
Captain," 1681 ; "The Volunteers," 1693, and some 
others. 

3. John Dryden, an illustrious poet, descendant of a 
respectable family in Huntingdonshire, was born at Aid- 
winkle, in that county, on the 9th of August, 1631. He 
was educated under Dr. Busby at Westminster School, 
whence he removed to Cambridge in 1650, having been 
elected Scholar of Trinity College, of which he appears 
to have been afterwards a Fellow. In his earlier days he 
gave no extraordinary indications of genius ; for even the 
year before he quitted the university he wrote a poem on 
the death of Lord Hastings which by no means exhibits a 
presage of that perfection in poetical composition which 
he was afterwards destined to attain. In 1668 Dryden 
was appointed poet-laureate in place of Sir William Dav- 
enant, and also historiographer to Charles II. The pen- 
sion of the two offices was two hundred pounds. It was 
about this time that his inclination to write for the stage 
seems first to have evinced itself. In 1669 appeared his 
comedy of "Wild Gallants," which met with indiffer- 
ent, success ; but not discouraged by this failure he soon 
published his "Indian Emperor," which, receiving a 
more favorable reception, encouraged him to proceed. 
Soon after the accession of James II. Dryden changed his 
religion for that of the Church of Rome, and wrote two 
pieces in vindication of the Catholic tenets : these were 
"A Defence of the Papers written by the late King," 
found in his strong box, and the celebrated poem, after- 



WHO ? 29 



wards answered by Lord Halifax, entitled " The Hind and 
the Panther." By this extraordinary step he not only 
engaged himself in controversy and incurred much cen- 
sure and ridicule from the contemporary wits, but on the 
accomplishment of the revolution, being, by reason of 
his new religion, disqualified from bearing any office under 
the government, he was stripped of the laurel, which, to 
his still greater mortification, was bestowed on Richard 
Flecknoe, a man for whom he had a most settled aversion. 
This circumstance occasioned his writing the severely 
satirical poem called " MacFlecknoe." Dryden's cir- 
cumstances had never been affluent, but being now de- 
prived of this little support, he found himself reduced to 
the necessity of writing for bread. We find him from 
this period engaged in the tasks of labor as well as genius, 
namely, in translating the works of others. To this 
necessity perhaps the world stands indebted for some of 
the best translations extant. In the year when he lost the 
laurel he translated the life of " St. Francis Xavier" from 
the French. In 1693 appeared a translation of "Juvenal 
and Persius;" in the first of which he had a considerable 
hand, and in the latter the entire execution. In 1697 he 
gave to posterity his translation of Virgil's works, which 
still does, and perhaps ever will, hold the first place 
among all attempts of the kind. The smaller pieces of 
this eminent writer, such as prologues, epilogues, epi- 
taphs, elegies, songs, and the like, have all been collected 
in Sir Walter Scott's edition of his works. His last work, 
called his "Fables," consists of the most interesting 
stories in Homer, Ovid, Boccaccio, and Chaucer, trans- 
lated or modernized in the most elegant and poetical 
manner ; together with some original pieces, among which 
is the "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day." This last composi- 
tion, though written in the very decline of the author's 
life, would have been sufficient to render him immortal 
had he never written a single line besides. Dryden mar- 
ried Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Earl of 
Berkshire, who survived him about eight years, though 
during the last four she was a lunatic. After a long life, 
harassed with the most laborious of all fatigues, that of 
the mind, and continually rendered anxious by distress 

3* 



3° 



WHO? 



and difficulty, he expired on the ist of May, 1701. He 
had no monument erected to his memory for several years ; 
a circumstance to which Pope refers in his epitaph in- 
tended for Rowe. Upon this hint Sheffield, Duke of 
Buckingham, erected a tomb, for which the following epi- 
taph was originally intended : " This Sheffield raised — the 
sacred dust below was Dryden's once : the rest, who does 
not know?' 7 This was afterwards changed into the plain 
inscription still to be seen on the monument, containing 
merely the date of the poet's birth and death, with the 
fact of the monument having been erected by John Shef- 
field, Duke of Buckingham. He is buried in Westminster 
Abbey. 

4. Nicholas Rowe, a poet and dramatist of some 
distinction, was descended from an ancient family in 
Devonshire, England, and was born at Little Barford, in 
Bedfordshire, about 1673. He acquired a strong taste for 
the classical authors under Dr. Busby in Westminster 
School ; but poetry was his early and darling study. His 
father, who was a lawyer, entered him as a student in the 
Middle Temple, and he made remarkable advances in the 
study of the law ; but the love of belles-lettres and of 
poetry interfered with his legal career. However, his 
poetry and books did not make him unfit for business, 
for no one applied closer to it when occasion required. 
The Duke of Queensberry, when secretary of state, made 
Rowe secretary of public affairs. After the duke's death 
all avenues to her preferment were stopped, so during the 
remainder of Queen Anne's reign he passed his time with 
the Muses and his books. On the accession of George I. 
he was made poet-laureate on the ist of August, 1715, 
and one of the land surveyors of the customs in the port 
of London. The Prince of Wales conferred on him the 
clerkship of his council, and the lord chancellor, Parker, 
made him his secretary for the presentations. He did not 
enjoy these honors long, for he died on the 6th of Decem- 
ber, 1 7 18, in his forty-fifth year. Rowe was twice mar- 
ried; had a son by his first wife and a daughter by his 
second. He was a very handsome man, and his mind 
was as amiable as his person. He was buried in West- 
minster Abbey, opposite to Chaucer, where his widow 
erected an elegant monument to him, containing a bust 



WHO? 3 t 



by Rysbrack, and an epitaph by Pope. His first tragedy, 
the "Ambitious Stepmother," meeting with considerable 
applause, he laid aside all thoughts of rising by the law, 
and afterwards composed several tragedies, but that which 
he himself most valued was "Tamerlane." The others 
were "The Fair Penitent," "Ulysses," "The Royal Con- 
vert," "Jane Shore," and "Lady Jane Grey." He also 
wrote several poems upon different subjects, which have 
been published under the title of " Miscellaneous Works" 
in one volume, as his dramatic works have been in two. 

5. Robert Southey. (See 3 in " What ?") 

6. Henry James Pye was born in London in 1745, 
and died in 1813. He was educated at Magdalene Col- 
lege, Oxford, and was a descendant of one of the most an- 
cient families in England, being the lineal representative 
of John Hampden by the female line. He was chosen 
member of Parliament for Berkshire in 1784; succeeded 
Warton as poet-laureate in 1790, and was appointed a 
police magistrate of London in 1792. His principal pub- 
lications are the following: "Elegies," 1763 ; "Six Olym- 
pic Odes of Pindar," being those omitted by Mr. West; 
translated into English verse, with notes, 1775. This is a 
valuable supplement to Gilbert West's Pindar. "Alfred," 
an epic poem, 1801, is his best. Translation of the 
Epigrams and Hymns of Homer, 1810, etc. 

7. Edmund Spenser, one of the greatest English 
poets, was born probably in East Smithfield, London, 
about the year 1553. There is no record by which one 
may trace the incidents of his early years, and there is 
reason to think that they were clouded by poverty and 
dependence. On the 20th of May, 1569, he entered 
Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, in the humble character 
of a sizar ; that is, a charity student, — a circumstance 
which is alone sufficient to rescue luckless scholars from 
despondency, and to render them respectable in the eyes 
of their more unfortunate companions. On the 10th of 
January, 1572-73, he took the degree of A.B., and on 
the 26th of June, 1576, that of A.M. It appears in 
consequence of his having made enemies, who had. both 
the will and power to injure him, he quitted Cambridge 
in despair of academical preferment. He had, luckily, 



32 WHO ? 



some friends in the north of England, among whom he 
now found a temporary asylum. During his retirement in 
the north Spenser wrote "The Shepherd's Kalendar." 
It is said that "Rosalind," who figures in the "Kalendar," 
was a real mistress, at whose feet Spenser sighed in vain. 
At this period of his history, his friend Harvey advised 
him to try his fortune in London. Upon his arrival in 
the metropolis, he was fortunate enough to obtain an 
introduction to Sir Philip Sidney, who invited him to 
become his guest at Penshurst, the seat of the family in 
Kent. As a token of gratitude for this hospitality the 
"Shepherd's Kalendar," published in 1579, was " enti- 
tuled to the noble and virtuous gentleman, most worthy 
of all titles, Maister Philip Sidney." Till long after the 
time of Spenser, the poet depended upon the casual gratui- 
ties of distinguished persons, who sometimes exerted their 
influence in procuring for a favorite bard some less preca- 
rious means of subsistence. Recommended, as is con- 
jectured, by the Earl of Leicester, uncle to Sir Philip 
Sidney, the poet went to the Continent, as Knightley sup- 
posed, in 1579 or 1580, and subsequently proceeded to 
Ireland with Arthur, Lord Grey of Wilton, who was ap- 
pointed deputy of that kingdom in 1581. During this 
year Spenser begun his " Faerie Queene." He was secre- 
tary of the viceroy, and discharged the duties of his office 
with greater promptitude and exactness than poets usually 
display in the ordinary business of life. By the interest 
of Lord Grey, Leicester, and Sidney, Spenser obtained, 
in 1586, a grant of three thousand and twenty-eight acres 
of the forfeited estates of the Earl of Desmond. This 
piece of good fortune was imbittered by the death of his 
patron, the gallant Sidney, who fell in the same year at 
the battle of Zutphen. The pastoral elegy of "Astro- 
phel," sacred to the memory of the departed hero, al- 
though not published till 1595, was probably written when 
the grief of the poet was at its height. It was provided 
by the royal patent that those who profited by the lands 
should reside upon them. According to this arrangement 
Spenser proceeded to a place named Kilcolman, in the 
county of Cork. This exile, to what was then little better 
than a region of barbarians, was cheered by a visit from 



WHO? 



33 



the renowned Sir Walter Raleigh in 1589. At the sug- 
gestion, it may be presumed, of his distinguished guest, 
whom he perhaps accompanied to England, the poet soon 
exchanged his Hibernian solitude for the splendors of a 
court. In 1590 were published the first three books of the 
"Faerie Queene," and afterwards the poet was presented 
to Queen Elizabeth by Raleigh, who conferred upon him 
a pension of fifty pounds a year, then no despicable sum. 
The grant of this pension was discovered in the Chapel of 
the Rolls by Malone, who has thus been enabled to clear 
the reputation of Lord Burleigh from the stigma of having 
intercepted the bounty of his sovereign to the author of 
the "Faerie Queene." Malone has also made it appear 
that Queen Elizabeth had no poet-laureate, an appoint- 
ment which was supposed to have been held by Spenser. 
In the sonnets annexed to the poem is one to his new 
patron, " the right noble and valorous knight, Sir Walter 
Raleigh ;" but Spenser does not forget to shed a grateful 
tear to the memory of the youthful Sidney. There is a 
sonnet addressed to the Countess of Pembroke, the darling 
sister of that accomplished person, for whose amusement 
Spenser wrote his "Arcadia." At one time Spenser was 
possessed of wealth, but the revolt in Ireland, — under Des- 
mond, — where his property lay, proved his ruin. He was 
plundered, and robbed besides of his estate, and one of 
his children was burned in the conflagration of his house; 
and, broken in heart and fortune, he went to London, 
where he died, in the forty-fifth year of his age, on the 
16th of January, 1599. Spenser was buried in West- 
minster Abbey. 

8. William Wordsworth.— (See 57 in "Who?") 

9. Thomas Warton, the learned author of the " His- 
tory of English Poetry," was born at Basingstoke in 1728, 
of a family remarkable for its talents. His father, Rev. 
Thomas Warton, was professor of poetry at Oxford, and 
died in 1745, and his brother Joseph was the writer of 
the "Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope." 
Thomas was educated at Cambridge, and early acquired 
distinction by the superiority of his poetical productions. 
In 1754 he published his "Observations on the Faerie 
Queene of Spenser," which at once established his repu- 

B* 



34 



WHO? 



tation for true poetic taste, and for extensive and varied 
learning. In 1757 he was elected to the professorship of 
poetry in Pembroke College, the duties of which office he 
discharged with remarkable success and ability. In 1774 
he published his first volume of "The History of English 
Poetry;" a second volume appeared in 1778, and a third 
in 1 78 1. "Into this very elaborate performance he poured 
the accumulated stores of a lifetime of reading and re- 
flection ; the survey he has given us of his subject is, ac- 
cordingly, both eminently comprehensive in its scope 
and rich and varied in its details. As respects early Eng- 
lish literature, it is a repository of information altogether 
unapproachable in extent and abundance by any other 
single work of the kind in the language." The work is, 
however, brought down to but very little beyond the com- 
mencement of the reign of Elizabeth, as he died while 
engaged in it, May, 1790. He was made poet-laureate 
in 1785, under the reign of George III. Warton succeeded 
William Whitehead in the laureateship. 

10. William Whitehead, an English poet and dram- 
atist, was born in 1715. His father was a baker of Cam- 
bridge. At the age of fourteen young Whitehead was 
placed at Westminster School, and obtained a founda- 
tion scholarship at Clare Hall, Cambridge, which led to 
a fellowship in 1742. About the same period he produced 
two of his earliest and best dramatic pieces, " Creusa" 
and the "Roman Father." Three years later he visited 
Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the Low Countries as 
a traveling tutor, and on his return to England obtained 
the registrarship to the Order of the Bath. He was ap- 
pointed poet-laureate, on the death of Cibber, to George 
II. in 1757. In addition to the writings already spoken 
of, he was the author of the " School for Lovers," a farce, 
published in 1762; "Trip to Scotland," a farce, 1771; 
"A Charge to the Poets," a satire; "Variety;" "The 
Goat's Beard," with several other miscellaneous poems. 
Mason has written his life. 

11. Colley Cibber, an English poet and dramatist, 
was born in London, November 6, 1671, and was the son 
of the sculptor Caius Gabriel Cibber. After serving as 
a volunteer in the cause of William of Orange, he com- 



WHO ? 



35 



menced his career as an actor in 1689. His success for 
many years was very indifferent, but he at last obtained 
popularity in the personation of feeble old men and fops. 
He wrote and adapted about thirty plays of various de- 
scriptions, among which are "Love's Last Shift," "Love 
makes a Man," " She Would and She Would Not," " The 
Careless Husband," "The Nonjuror," — his best play, an 
adaptation of Moliere's "Tartuffe," on which Bickerstaff 
afterwards founded his "Hypocrite," — "The Provoked 
Husband," and the modern acting version of Richard III. 
He also wrote an autobiography, under the title of an 
"Apology for his Life." He was one of the managers 
of Drury Lane Theatre from 1711 to 1730, and was then 
appointed poet-laureate to King George II. In the char- 
acter of laureate Cibber figures in the "Dunciad." He 
died on the 12th of December, 1757. 

12. Sir William Davenant, though now read chiefly 
by the antiquary in English literature, had, in his lifetime, 
considerable celebrity as a writer. He was born in 1605, 
at Oxford, where his father kept an inn, and was educated 
at that university. He early began to write for the stage, 
and on Ben Jonson's death was made poet-laureate. In 
the civil wars he held a considerable post in the army, and 
was knighted by the king; but on the decline of the 
royalist whose cause he had espoused, he sought refuge 
in France, where he wrote two books of the poem for 
which he is most known — his " Gondibert" — under the 
patronage of Henrietta Maria, "that ill-fated, ill-advised 
queen" of Charles I. By her he was dispatched with a 
colony of artificers for Virginia. He had scarcely cleared 
the French coast when his vessel was taken by a Parlia- 
mentary ship, and he was sent prisoner to Cowes Castle. 
Here, with great composure and manliness of mind, he 
continued his poem, till he had carried through about one- 
half of what he designed, when he suddenly broke off, 
expecting immediately to be led to execution. His life, 
however, was spared, through the intercession of two alder- 
men of York, whom Davenant had rescued from great 
peril in the civil wars, united to the then all-powerful 
influence of Milton. After his release he supported him- 
self by writing plays till the Restoration, when, beautiful 



3 6 WHO? 



to relate, it is believed that Milton himself was spared 
at Davenant's intercession, in return for his own preserva- 
tion. His fame principally rests on his heroic poem 
"Gondibert." He died 1668. 

19. Samuel Rogers. — Who was the poet of "Mem- 
ory"? Ans. Samuel Rogers. (See 8 in "Who?") 

20. Herodotus. — Who is styled "Father of His- 
tory' ' ? Ans. . Herodotus. 

Herodotus was born at Halicarnassus. His history de- 
scribes the wars of the Greeks against the Persians from 
the age of Cyrus to the battle of Mycale. This he pub- 
licly repeated at the Olympic games, when the name of 
the "Muses" was given to his nine books. This cele- 
brated work, which has given its author the title of 
"Father of History," is written in the Ionic dialect. 
Herodotus is among the historians what Homer is among 
the poets. His style abounds with elegance, ease, and 
sweetness. He also wrote a history of Assyria and Ara- 
bia, but this is not extant. 

21. Alexander Pope. — Who wrote the " Dunciad" ? 
Ans. Alexander Pope. (See 4 in "Who?") 

22. Aristotle. — Who was the preceptor of Alexander 
the Great? Ans. Aristotle.* 

Aristotle possessed one of the keenest and most in- 
ventive original intellects ever known. His writings treat 
of almost every branch of knowledge in his time, — moral 
and natural philosophy, metaphysics, mechanics, gram- 
mar, criticism, and politics, all occupied his pen. His 
eloquence also was remarkable. He was moderate in his 
meals, slept little, and was indefatigably industrious. 
That he might not oversleep himself, Diogenes Laer- 
tius tells us that he lay always with one hand out of bed, 
holding in it a ball of brass, which, by its falling into a 
basin of the same metal, awakened him. Though edu- 
cated in the school of Plato, he differed from his mas- 
ter, and at length formed a new school. He taught in 
the Lyceum. He had a deformed countenance, but his 
genius was an ample compensation for all personal defects. 
As he expired, he is said to have uttered the following 
sentiment: "I entered this world in impurity, I have 
lived in anxiety, I depart in perturbation. Cause of 

* Aristotle is sometimes called " The Stagirite." 



WHO? 



37 



causes, pity me !" If he lived in skepticism, as is affirmed, 
he hardly died in it. His death occurred in his sixty- 
third year. Alexander, at the age of ten, was delivered 
to the tuition of Aristotle, and probably from him im- 
bibed some of those noble qualities which always dis- 
tinguished the warrior even amidst his deeds of violence. 

23. /Esop. — Who was yEsop? Ans. A Phrygian 
slave. 

yEsop flourished about 580 years B.C. Those entertain- 
ing and instructive fables which he composed have ac- 
quired for him a high reputation, and he is generally 
supposed to have been the inventor of that kind of 
writing. He was originally a slave, and had several 
masters, but procured his liberty by the charms of his 
genius. Falling into the hands of an Athenian philoso- 
pher, he was enfranchised. He traveled over the greater 
part of Greece and Egypt, but resided much at the court 
of Croesus, King of Lydia, by whom he was sent to con- 
sult the oracle of Delphi. In this commission ^Esop be- 
haved himself with great severity, and sarcastically com- 
pared the Delphians to floating sticks, which appear large 
at a distance, but are nothing when brought near. The 
Delphians, offended with his caustic remarks, accused 
him of some act of sacrilege ; and, pretending to have 
proved it against him, threw him down from a rock. He 
is said to have been short and deformed in his person. 

24. Homer. — Who wrote the " Iliad" ? Ans. Homer. 
Homer was not only the greatest of the Greek poets, 

but the earliest whose works have survived the devasta- 
tions of time. On these accounts he is styled the "Father 
of Poetry;" and, indeed, so far as we can know, certainly 
he is the most ancient of all profane classical writers. 
The place of his nativity is unknown. Seven illustrious 
cities contend for the honor of having given him birth. 
His parentage and the circumstances of his life are also 
unknown, except in regard to the latter ; it was agreed 
that he was a wandering poet, and that he was blind. 
His greatest poems — and they are among the greatest 
of uninspired books — are the "Iliad" and "Odyssey." 
Other works have been ascribed to him, but his author- 
ship of them has not been sufficiently substantiated. His 

4 



38 WHO ? 



poetry is characterized by sublimity, fire, sweetness, ele- 
gance, and universal knowledge. The poems of Homer 
are the compositions of a man who traveled and ex- 
amined with the most critical accuracy whatever he met 
in his way. Modern travelers are astonished to see the 
different scenes which his pen described almost three 
thousand years ago still appearing the same ; and the 
sailor who steers his course along the ^Egean, beholds 
all the promontories and rocks which presented them- 
selves to Nestor and Menelaus when they returned vic- 
torious from the Trojan war. The first appearance of 
Homer's poems in Greece was about two hundred years 
after the supposed time of the bard. Pisistratus, tyrant 
of Athens, was the first who arranged the "Iliad" and 
"Odyssey" in the form in which they have comedown 
to us. The Arundelian marbles fix the period in which 
he flourished at 917 B.C. 

25. Josephus. — Who was the earliest Jewish histo- 
rian? Ans. Josephus. 

Flavius Josephus says of himself, " The family from 
which I am derived is not an ignoble one, but have de- 
scended all along from the priests ; and as nobility among 
several people is of a different origin, so with us, to be 
of the sacerdotal dignity is an indication of the splendor 
of a family. Now I am not sprung from a sacerdotal 
family in general, but from the first of the twenty-four 
courses ; and, as among us, there is not only a consider- 
able difference between one family of each course and 
another, I am of the chief family of that first course 
also ; nay, farther, by my mother I am of the royal blood ; 
for the children of Asamoneus, from whom that family 
was derived, had both the office of the high-priesthood 
and the dignity of a king for a long time together." 
Then he gives his progenitors, "To bid adieu to those 
who calumniate him as of a lower original." His mem- 
ory and understanding were great when but a child, and 
when he was fourteen years of age the high-priests and 
principal men of the city came frequently together to 
consult his opinions about the "accurate understanding 
of the law." Josephus appears to have led a varied life, 
both in religious and secular ways. He tells us when he 



WHO ? 39 



was sixteen years old he had a mind to make trial of the 
several sects among them. These sects were three : first 
the Pharisees, second the Sadducees, third the Essenes. 
He thought by this means he could choose the best. 
He contented himself with hard fare and went through 
them all. Finally he decided to be a Pharisee, which 
is of kin to the sect of the Stoics, as the Greeks call 
them. When he was twenty-seven he went to Rome, for 
the purpose of freeing some priests who were in bonds. 
This he accomplished, and returned home again. He was 
governor of Galilee, and fought with the Jews against the 
Romans, though opposing the war from the first ; then he 
fought with the Romans against the Jews, under Titus, 
and was with him during the destruction of Jerusalem. 
Titus was a great friend of Josephus, both before and after 
he ascended the throne. 

26. Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire. — Who 
wrote the "Henriade"? Ans. Francois Marie Arouet de 
Voltaire. 

Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire was a Parisian by 
birth, and died in 1778, at the age of eighty-four. For a 
long ^period he was sort of dictator in the republic of 
letters on the Continent. By his free remarks on govern- 
ment and religion he contributed perhaps more than any 
other man to lay the foundation for that state of things 
which afterwards existed in France, known under the 
name of Revolution. In early life he evinced superior 
powers of mind, especially a sprightly imagination. He 
wrote verses, he says, before he left his cradle. His fond- 
ness for satire, directed against the government, procured 
his imprisonment in the Bastile, till he was liberated by the 
interference of the Duke of Orleans. After this event he 
devoted himself more entirely to the composition of 
poetry. His principal efforts were directed towards the 
drama; and his "Alzire," "Mahomet," and " Merope" 
placed him at the head of the dramatic poets of France. 
His " Henriade," an epic poem, he had previously pub- 
lished in England. Encouraged by the Prussian monarch, 
he spent some time at the court of Berlin, but at last fixed 
his residence in a village on the borders of France, named 
Ferney. The boldness and effrontery of his muse had 



4o 



WHO? 



rendered a residence in the French capital vexatious and 
even dangerous to him, and hence he willingly left his 
country at different times, and at last retired to a remote 
corner of it, so that he might pursue his studies in quiet. 
Here he continued long to direct the taste and the litera- 
ture of the age. He died at Paris while visiting that city, 
and, according to some accounts, he crossed the portals 
of death in great horror, from reflections on the irreligious 
tendency of his writings. The blasphemous atheist often 
appeared in his works. Here is a description given of 
him by a contemporary, Dr. Moore: "Voltaire, now in 
his eightieth year, has the most piercing eye I ever be- 
held. His whole countenance is expressive of genius, 
observation, and extreme sensibility. In the morning he 
has a look of anxiety and discontent, which gradually 
wears off, and after dinner he seems cheerful. Yet an air 
of irony never entirely forsakes his face, but may always 
be observed lurking in his features whether he frowns or 
smiles. By far the greater part of his time is spent in his 
study, and whether he reads himself or listens to another, 
he always has a pen in his hand to take notes or make 
remarks." 

27. iEschylus. — Who was the inventor of Tragedy? 
Ans. yEschylus. 

iEschylus, son of Euphorion, was born in Eleusis 525 
B.C. When he was thirty-five years of age, just ten years 
after the production of his first tragedy, he fought at Mara- 
thon. This fact is significant on its bearings on his art 
and on his life. Of his military achievements he was 
more proud than of his poetical success, for he mentions 
the former and is silent about the latter in the epitaph he 
wrote for his own tomb. Of his actual life at Athens we 
only know this much, that he sided with the old aristo- 
cratic party. His retirement to Sicily after his defeat by 
Sophocles, in 468 B.C., arose probably from the fact that 
Cirnon, who adjudged the prize, was leader of the demo- 
cratic opposition, and was felt to have allowed his political 
leanings to influence his decision. His second retirement 
to Sicily, in 458 B.C., after the production of his Ores- 
teia, in which he unsuccessfully supported the Areopagus 
against Pericles, was due, perhaps, in like manner, to his 



WHO ? 



4i 



disagreement with the rising powers in the state. That 
at some period of his career he was publicly accused of 
impiety, because he had either divulged the mysteries of 
Demeter or had offended popular taste by his presenta- 
tion of the Furies on the stage, rests upon sufficient 
antique testimony. He died at Gela in 456 B.C., aged 
sixty-nine, having spent his life partly at Athens and 
partly at the court of Hiero, pursuing in both places his 
profession of tragic poet and chorus-master. Though the 
ancients may have been right in regarding ^Eschylus as 
an enthusiastic writer, obeying the impulse of the god 
within him rather than the rules of reason, no dramatic 
poet ever had a higher sense of the aesthetic unity which 
tragedy demands. Each of his masterpieces presents to 
the imagination a coherent and completely organized 
whole ; every part is penetrated with the dominant thought 
and passion that inspired it. He had, moreover, the 
strongest sense of the formal requirements of his art. 
JEschylus gave tragedy the form which, with compara- 
tively unimportant alterations, it maintained throughout 
the brilliant period of Attic culture. It was he who cur- 
tailed the function of the chorus and developed dialogue, 
thus expanding the old Thespian elements of tragedy in 
accordance with the true spirit of the drama. By adding 
a second actor, by attending diligently to the choric songs 
and dances, by inventing the cothurnus and the tragic 
mask, and by devising machinery and scenes adapted to 
the large scale of the Athenian stage, he gave its perma- 
nent form to the dramatic art of the Greeks.* 

28. Who were the seven wise men of Greece ? Ans. 
Solon of Athens, Thales of Miletus, Bias of Priene, Chilo 
of Lacedaemon, Cleobulus of Lindos, Pittacus of Mity- 
lene, Penander of Corinth. 

29. Daniel De Foe. — Who is the author of " Robin- 
son Crusoe" ? Ans. Daniel De Foe. 

Daniel De Foe was born in London, 1661. He died 
on the 24th of April, 1731, in the seventy-first year of his 
age. He was a very remarkable man, and his wonder- 
ful story of " Robinson Crusoe" has a world-wide fame. 



* Harper's Weekly. 
4* 



42 WHO ? 



Dr. Samuel Johnson, never too apt to compliment, says, 
" No one ever laid it down without wishing it were longer." 
Of De Foe's youthful years we know but little, but that 
his education was not neglected, and that he applied him- 
self faithfully to his studies, we may fairly infer from his 
after-success in the walks of literature. He first engaged 
in trade, but after a few years' trial of it, concluded it was 
not his sphere. In 1700 he published his "True-Born 
Englishman," a pamphlet in answer to a libel on King 
William, with which his majesty was well pleased. After 
the death of Queen Anne, in 1714, the continued attacks 
of his political opponents so weighed upon his mind and 
depressed his spirits that his health gave way, and he was 
for a time dangerously ill. When he recovered, he re- 
solved to abandon his old field of political satire and in- 
vective and to enter upon a new one; and accordingly 
he put forth the first part of his wonderful "Robinson 
Crusoe," which no story has ever exceeded in popularity. 
The great success that attended this induced him to write 
a second and third part, which, however, are very inferior 
to the first. The multitude of books and pamphlets which 
he published it is not worth while to mention, save those 
that attained popularity, as "The Adventures of Captain 
Singleton," "The Fortunes of Moll Flanders," "The 
Memoirs of a Cavalier," "A Tour through Great Britain," 
" A History of the Plague." 

30. Goethe. — Who was the "Patriarch of German 
Literature"? Ans. Goethe. 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfort- 
on-the-Main, August 28, 1749; died in Weimar, at the 
age of eighty-three, March 22, 1832. His father, Johann 
Caspar Goethe, was the son of a tailor, and raised him- 
self to the dignity of an imperial councillor, and married 
Katharina Elizabeth Textor, daughter of the chief magis- 
trate of the city. Their first child was Goethe, and he 
inherited the best qualities of both parents. The father, 
a stern, cold, formal, and pedantic man, was a person of 
vigorous mind and rigid will. The mother was a simple- 
hearted, genial, vivacious, and affectionate woman, who 
loved poetry and the romantic lore of the nursery. In 
one of his poems Goethe said, " I derive from my father 



WHO ? 43 



my fame and the steady 'guidance of my life, and from my 
dear little mother my happy disposition and love of story- 
telling. " Goethe was a precocious child, handsome, 
lively, and sensitive ; his early education was wholly do- 
mestic, in company with his only sister, Cornelia, to whom 
he was passionately attached. Before he was ten years 
old he wrote several languages, meditated poetry, invented 
stories, and had considerable familiarity with works of art. 
At sixteen years of age he was sent to Leipsic to begin 
his collegiate studies. He had various love adventures 
with both maidens and married ladies. He was engaged 
at one time to a clergyman's daughter at Sesenheim, Fred- 
erica by name, but becoming tired tore himself away from 
the bond and attachment. He practiced law at Wetzlar, 
and while there fell in love with Charlotte Buff, who was 
already betrothed to one Kestner, whom she afterwards 
married. She did not return Goethe's affection. A young 
friend of Goethe's, Jerusalem, committed suicide because 
of a similar unhappy passion for the wife of one of his 
friends, and Goethe wove the incidents of the two cases 
into the celebrated novel called "The Sorrows of Wer- 
ther." The fame of this book brought the author to the 
notice of Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, 
who, in 1775, invited the poet to spend a few weeks at 
the court. Goethe afterwards permanently resided there. 
His acquaintance with Schiller began at Weimar, and 
although their intercourse at first was cold and formal, it 
finally ripened into one of the most enduring and beau- 
tiful friendships recorded in literary annals. His novel, 
" Wilhelm Meister," was published in 1783. Goethe 
maintained a relation with Frau von Stein for a long 
time, but finally broke it off, and formed another with 
one Christiane Vulpius, who was uneducated, and lived 
in some domestic capacity in his house. He afterwards 
married her to legitimate his son, — born December 25, 
1788, and died October 27, 1830. In 1805 the first part 
of the greatest work of his life, " Faust," appeared. 
This work raised Goethe to the highest pinnacle of fame : 
he was acknowledged to be the first poet of the age ; 
and as his circumstances were easy, his reputation gained 
for him the homage of Europe. In 1831 the second part 



44 WHO ? 



of " Faust" was published. One year after the completion 
of " Faust" he was taken ill with a cold, which turned 
into a fatal fever. Up to the hour of his death he pros- 
ecuted his intellectual pursuits. His last words were, 
" More light !" At the time of his death he was engaged 
on an essay on the dispute between Geoffroy-Saint-Hi- 
laire and Cuvier on the question of unity of composition 
in the mineral kingdom. Some of the best translations 
of his works are the following: " Faust," by Bayard 
Taylor, also by Charles T. Brooks; " Wilhelm Meister," 
by Thomas Carlyle ; " Truth and Poetry," by Parke God- 
win ; "Hermann and Dorothea," by Miss Ellen Froth- 
ingham. His " Correspondence with a Child" (Elizabeth, 
or Bettina von Arnim) is not genuine. Goethe's letters 
are said to be the best illustrations of his character. Those 
to Klopstock, to Frau von Stein, and to Schiller are the 
principal ones. His entire works would embrace about 
fifty-five volumes. 

31. Phidias. — Who is called "Father of Sculpture"? 
Ans. Phidias. 

Very little is known of his history. He was an Athe- 
nian, and died B.C. 432. His statue of Jupiter Olympius 
passed for one of the wonders of the world. That of 
Minerva, in the Pantheon of Athens, measured thirty- 
nine feet in height, and was made of gold and ivory. 

32. Alexander Pope. — Who is called the "Paper- 
saving Poet," and why? Ans. Alexander Pope. (See 
4 in "Who?") He was so called because he trans- 
lated the greater part of the "Iliad" on the backs of old 
letters. 

33. Shakspeare. — Who is the "Poet of the Human 
Heart"? Ans. Shakspeare. (See 1 in "Who?") 

34. Chaucer. — Who is called "The Morning Star of 
English Poets"? Ans. Chaucer. (See 15 in "Who?") 

35. Cadmus. — Who introduced the alphabet into 
Greece ? Ans. Cadmus. 

Cadmus was a Phoenician. He also laid the foundation 
of Thebes, but this is much invested in fable. Cadmus 
was the first who" introduced letters into Greece, though 
some maintain that the same alphabet was already in ex- 
istence among the inhabitants. This alphabet consisted 



WHO? 



45 



then of only sixteen letters, to which eight were after- 
wards added. The worship of several of the Egyptian 
and Phoenician deities was also introduced by Cadmus. 
His era is supposed to be about 15 19 B.C. 

36. Alexander Selkirk. — Who was "Robinson Cru- 
soe"? Ans. Alexander Selkirk. 

Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish seaman, and was left, 
as a punishment for some offense he had committed, on 
the island of Juan Fernandez by his shipmates. This was 
no uncommon punishment among the rude navigators of 
that time; it was called "marooning." Here, on this 
deserted island, he passed a long series of years in a soli- 
tary existence, somewhat resembling the supposed life of 
" Robinson Crusoe." It does not detract from the great- 
ness of De Foe's book to know that he took the idea from 
the extant history of Selkirk, for he so enlarged and ex- 
panded it that his genius made it entirely another work 
from the meagre and coarsely-written account of Selkirk 
himself. By many the entire history of Alexander Selkirk 
is regarded as mythical. 

37. Homer. — Who is called the "Father of Song"? 
Ans. Homer. (See 24 in "Who?") 

38. John Milton. — Who is the "Poet of Paradise," 
and where is he buried ? Ans. John Milton ; buried in 
Westminster Abbey. 

John Milton was born in London, 1608. His political 
and controversial writings are justly celebrated, and con- 
tain many admirable passages. He was a strenuous as- 
serter and defender of liberty, and in many of his views 
on this and kindred subjects was far in advance of his age. 
But as a poet he is still more justly celebrated, and is at 
least a compeer of Homer and Virgil. His "Paradise 
Lost" is the greatest epic poem which modern ages have 
produced. In his lifetime the poet never received the 
meed of praise which was his due, but ample justice has since 
been accorded to him, and all posterity will render homage 
to his transcendent genius. The incidents of his life 
are interesting, but we shall pass them over, except to 
say he was married three times (see 10 in "How?"), 
became blind in writing his " Defence of the English 
People" against the attacks of Salmasius, suffered not a 



46 WHO ? 



little from personal and political enemies, and finally died 
comparatively poor and forsaken by the world. It is said 
that Milton was uncommonly handsome when young, was 
economical in his living, and rigidly abstemious. In re- 
ligion he was a Puritan, with some diversity, however, in 
his religious views at different periods of his life. He 
died of the gout in 1674. When thirty-five years of age 
he married Mary, eldest daughter of Mr. Richard Powell, 
a high royalist of Forest Hill, Oxfordshire. This union 
proved very unhappy in every way, as the wife was dull 
and uninteresting, not capable to appreciate such a man 
as Milton, and having nothing to recommend her save 
her outward beauty. Like Byron's wife, she went home 
for a visit and refused to return. He got a divorce on the 
grounds of disobedience and desertion, and was about to 
marry a beautiful and accomplished daughter of a Dr. 
Davis, when the wife begged him to take her back ; this 
he did, and the whole family with her, who were in great 
danger and distress, owing to the failure of the royal 
cause. In 1649, unexpectedly to himself, he was ap- 
pointed secretary of state. In 1653 he lost his wife, and 
was left with three motherless daughters in domestic soli- 
tude and in almost total blindness. About 1656, Milton 
married his second wife, a daughter of Captain Wood- 
cock, of Hackney, who died the next year. In one of 
his sonnets he has paid an affectionate tribute to her mem- 
ory. Soon after this event he retired from the office of 
secretary of state on an allowance of one hundred and 
fifty pounds a year. He occupied his time in completing 
his " History of England to the Norman Conquest," in 
the preparation of his " Thesaurus Linguae Latinse," and 
doubtless in reflecting upon the subject of his immortal 
epic, the " Paradise Lost. " In September, 1658, Crom- 
well, broken down by the cares and anxieties of govern- 
ment, finished his splendid career. His death, of course, 
gave the breast of Milton no little anxiety, lest the great 
cause of freedom, for which he had been contending, 
should suffer detriment, and intolerance and persecution 
return. At the Restoration he was in imminent peril, 
and retired to the house of a friend in Bartholomew Close, 
where he lay concealed till the Act of Oblivion was 



WHO ? 47 



passed, August 29, 1660. On his return to society he 
took a house in Holborn, near Red Lion Square, and in 
1662 removed to a house in the Artillery Walk, adjoining 
Bunhill Fields, where he continued the remainder of his 
life: In 1665, Milton married his third wife, a daughter 
of Sir Edward Minshul, of an ancient Cheshire family. She 
survived him above fifty years. This step seems to have 
been absolutely necessary to protect the blind poet from 
the unnatural conduct of his daughters, who sold his 
books and combined with the maid-servant to cheat him 
in the marketing. His family physician, Dr. Paget, 
" made the match;" which seemed to be everything de- 
sired. His "Paradise Lost" was published after he was 
blind, in 1667, and a great deal of it written by any hand 
that happened near, while he dictated. 

3g. Washington Irving. — Who was "Diedrich 
Knickerbocker"? Ans. Washington Irving. 

Washington Irving was born in the city of New York 
on the 3d of April, 1783. After receiving an ordinary 
school education, he commenced at the age of sixteen the 
study of the law. In 1804, in consequence of ill health, 
he sailed for Bordeaux, and thence roamed over the most 
beautiful portions of Southern Europe, visited Switzerland, 
sojourned in Paris, passed through Holland to England, 
and returned home in 1806, and again resumed the study 
of law. He was admitted to the bar in November of that 
year, but never practiced. Shortly after, he joined Mr. 
Paulding in writing "Salmagundi," the first number of 
which appeared in 1807. It was in form and method of 
publication imitated from the "Spectator," but in details, 
spirit, and aim so exquisitely adapted to the latitude of 
New York, that its appearance was hailed with a delight 
hitherto unknown. It was, in fact, a complete triumph 
of local genius. It was full of humor and fun, and at 
once decided the fortunes of the authors. In December, 
1808, he published "The History of New York, by 
Diedrich Knickerbocker," a most original and amusing 
work ; in a few years after he edited the " Analectic Maga- 
zine." In the autumn of 1814 he joined the military 
staff of the governor of New York as aid-de-camp and 
secretary, with the title of colonel. At the close of the 



48 WHO ? 



war he embarked for Liverpool, with a view of a second 
tour in Europe; but financial troubles intervening, he 
turned his time and attention to authorship. In 1818 
appeared the papers called the "Sketch-Book," trans- 
mitted from London, where he wrote them, to New York, 
which at once attracted universal attention and admira- 
tion, not only here but in England, where they were re- 
published in 182 1. After residing a few years in England, 
Mr. Irving again visited Paris, and returning to England, 
brought out "Bracebridge Hall," in London, May, 1822. 

The next winter he passed in Dresden, and in the fol- 
lowing spring gave to the public " Tales of a Traveller." 
Soon after, he went to Madrid, and wrote "The Life of 
Columbus," which appeared in 1828. In the spring of 
that year he visited the south of Spain, and the result was 
the "Chronicles of the Conquest of Grenada," published 
in 1829. The same year he visited that region and col- 
lected materials for his "Alhambra." In July he went 
to England, being appointed secretary of legation to 
the American embassy in London, which office he held 
until the return of Mr. McLane, in 1831. His other 
works are "Tour of the Prairies," "Astoria," "Abbots- 
ford and Newstead Abbey," "Legends of the Conquest 
of Spain," "Life of Goldsmith," and "Life of Washing- 
ton." In 1832 Irving returned to New York, having 
received in the mean time one of the twenty-guinea gold 
medals provided by George IV. for eminence in historical 
composition, and the degree of LL.D. from the Univer- 
sity of Oxford. Irving never married, the cause being 
an early attachment to a beautiful and accomplished young 
lady, who died during the period of their engagement. 
It is said while on a visit once to her family thirty years 
afterwards, he came across some little, long-forgotten, 
dainty piece of work, half finished by her hands, among 
a pile of old music, the sight of which so affected him 
that he was unable to speak. 

40. Timothy Dwight. — Who was tutor in Yale Col- 
lege at the age of nineteen, and afterwards became one of 
the most celebrated presidents of the institution? Ans. 
Timothy Dwight. 

Timothy Dwight was born at Northampton, Massachu- 



WHO? 



49 



setts, on the 14th day of May, 1752. He was a grandson 
on the mother's side of the great Jonathan Edwards. 
His wonderful intellect was early displayed, and at six he 
commenced the study of Latin ; to his excellent mother 
he was peculiarly indebted, by her precepts and examples, 
for the moral and intellectual qualities with which he was 
so richly gifted. At the age of seventeen he took the 
Bachelor's degree at Yale College, and two years after- 
wards he was elected a tutor of that institution. In the 
tutorship he continued six years, after which he was vari- 
ously employed for several years, residing for the greater 
part of his time in his native place. In March, 1777, he 
married Miss Woolsey, of Long Island. By her he had 
eight sons, six of whom outlived him. In 1783 he was 
settled in the Christian ministry over the parish of Green- 
field, in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. Here he 
continued twelve years, and acquired a high reputation 
as an eloquent preacher and faithful pastor. During this 
period he published his " Conquest of Canaan" and his 
"Greenfield Hill"; the one an epic in eleven books, 
which was completed in his twenty-fourth year; the other 
a descriptive and didactic poem in seven books. In 1795 
he was elected to the presidency of Yale College, which 
position he retained till his death in 1817. The decease 
of Timothy Dwight was lamented as the fall of one of 
the greatest, best, and most useful men that have adorned 
the annals of this country. His theological lectures, under 
the title of "Theology," have been published in five 
octavo volumes, and have passed through several large 
editions, both in the United -States and Great Britain. 

41. Dean Swift. — Who wrote "Gulliver's Travels"? 
Ans. Dean Swift. 

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, in 1667 ; a posthu- 
mous child, left upon the uncertain charity of relations 
for support, and the not less precarious favor of the great 
for protection. This unfortunate entrance into life ap- 
pears to have tinged with a darker shade of misanthropic 
gloom a temperament naturally saturnine, and to have 
inspired something of that morbid melancholy which 
finally merged into hypochondria, and ended in terrible 
madness and idiocy. If retribution comes to one in this 
c 5 



5° 



WHO ? 



world, poor Swift certainly had his share of it. He was 
educated at Dublin University. At the age of twenty-one 
he obtained the patronage of Sir William Temple, with 
whom he lived, at Moor Park, in Surry, as an amanuensis 
and companion until the death of Sir William, in 1698. 
While here he wrote his "Battle of the Books," against 
Bentley, and also took orders in the church. At Temple's 
death the Earl of Berkeley invited him to come to Ireland, 
and after many disappointments he obtasned the living 
of Laracor, where, in 1704, he published, anonymously, 
that remarkable work, "A Tale of a Tub." It was de- 
signed as a burlesque and satire upon the disputes among 
the Papists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians, and for 
keenness of satire and humor perhaps it has never been 
equaled. In 17 13 he was given the deanery of St. Patrick's, 
in Dublin. Swift did not begin to write till he was thirty- 
four; this circumstance will account for the force and 
mastery which his style from the first exhibited. In the 
beginning of Swift's career he was a Whig, but in 1708 
turned Tory ; this destroyed all hopes of his further pre- 
ferment in the English Church, as the House of Hanover 
held possession of the English throne. On their accession 
Swift returned to Ireland, where he seems to have never 
ceased to annoy the government with his political pam- 
phlets and satires. He soon reached a pitch of popularity 
among his own countrymen which has never been surpassed, 
— perhaps never equaled, — even in the heated days of Irish 
politics. Taking advantage of a species of monopoly — 
apparently not much more unjust and oppressive than such 
privileges usually are — which the government was about to 
grant to one William Wood, and the object of which was 
to admit into Ireland a considerable sum of copper money 
to be coined by Wood, Swift succeeded in raising against 
the government which granted, and the speculator who 
obtained, the obnoxious monopoly, so violent a storm of 
Irish indignation that it was not only found impossible 
to execute the project, but an insurrection was very nearly 
excited. Archbishop Boulter once accused him of having 
excited the popular fury against the government, when 
Jonathan answered, " If I had lifted my finger, they would 
have torn you in pieces." The engine of this vehement 



WHO? 



5* 



movement was the publication (in a Dublin newspaper) 
of a succession of letters, signed " M. B. Drapier," 
written by Swift, in the character of a Dublin tradesman, 
and a most admirable specimen of consummate skill in 
political writing for the people. In 1726 appeared the 
most perfect of the larger productions of Swift, "Gulli- 
ver's Travels." It is a production entirely unique in 
the English language. In the latter part of his life he 
published another burlesque on the social world, entitled 
"Polite Conversation," being an almost exact represen- 
tation of the unpremeditated talk of ordinary people. 
A still more ludicrous and satirical work appeared after 
his death, under the title of "Directions to Servants." 
His most important political tracts were "The Conduct 
of the Allies," "The Public Spirit of the Whigs," and 
"A History of the Four Last Years of Queen Anne." 
Now we come to a still darker side of his character. It 
was while living with Sir William Temple that Swift 
made the acquaintance of Miss Johnson, — the daughter 
of Temple's steward, — the unfortunate woman who gained 
a world-wide celebrity under the name of Stella. After 
having won her affections he trifled with her for years, 
and not till late in life did he marry her, then he would 
never see her except in the presence of a third party. 
It was about 1712 that he met the beautiful and most 
unhappy Vanessa, whose real name was Vanhomrigh. 
" This young lady had been in some measure educated by 
Swift; and the fair pupil conceived for her instructor a 
passion of that deep, durable, and all-engrossing char- 
acter which, for weal or woe, fills and occupies a whole 
existence, and to whose intensity not even time can apply 
any real alleviation. It is not certain how far a thought- 
less vanity, or an almost incredible hardness of heart, or 
a taint of that insanity which was to cloud the setting of 
Swift's bright and powerful intellect, may have led him to 
sport with the affections of this unhappy girl ; but at the 
very time when he was allowing her to indulge in dreams 
of happiness, which he knew were vain, Swift was keep- 
ing up with Stella, the former victim of his selfish vanity, 
the hope of a union which, if it came at all, was certain 
to be but a too tardy reparation. Vanessa died of a 



5 2 WHO? 



broken heart on learning the relations in which Swift 
stood, and had all along remained, with respect to Stella." 
Stella ultimately received the right to Swift's protection 
as a husband ; but it came too late to the poor woman to 
restore her ruined happiness or to save her life. For 
nine years he suffered terribly, passing from a furious 
mania to a state of idiocy. Thus, the active politician, 
the satirist, the poet, and the wit, died as he himself had 
feared and half predicted, "In a rage, like a poisoned 
rat in a hole." This occurred October 19, 1745, in 
Dublin. He was the friend, adviser, and defender of 
the middle and lower classes, and among these his death 
caused the greatest grief and lamentations. The " Dean" 
was buried in his own cathedral of St. Patrick, in Dublin. 

42. Thomas Campbell. — Who are called the " Poets 
of the Pleasures" ? Am. Thomas Campbell, for he wrote 
"Pleasures of Hope"; Samuel Rogers, for he wrote 
"Pleasures of Memory"; Mark Akenside, for he wrote 
" Pleasures of the Imagination" ; and James Montgomery, 
who wrote "Pleasures of Imprisonment." 

1. Thomas Campbell, the celebrated British poet, was the 
son of a merchant in Glasgow, where he was born on the 
27th of July, 1777. After finishing his academical course 
in the University of Glasgow, where he gave much prom- 
ise of future fame, he accepted the situation of tutor in a 
family in Argyleshire. After remaining here a short time 
he went to Edinburgh in the winter of 1798 with the first 
rough draft of "Pleasures of Hope" in his pocket, and 
showed it to Dugald Stewart and Dr. Robert Anderson, 
who praised it warmly, and prophesied its success. It 
was dedicated to Dr. Anderson, and published in April, 
1799; but the author was so unwise as to sell the copy- 
right for the small sum of sixty pounds to Mundell, the 
publisher. In 1803 a complete edition of his poems in 
quarto form appeared in London. On the nth of Octo- 
ber, the same year, he married Miss Matilda Sinclair, of 
Edinburgh, and fixed his residence in Sydenham, in Kent, 
working for his bread by contributing to magazines, news- 
papers, etc. In 1805 he received a pension of two hun- 
dred pounds a year, which came just in time to relieve 
him of great pecuniary embarrassments. In 1809 he 



WHO? 



53 



added another wreath to his fame by the publication of 
"Gertrude of Wyoming," in which the poverty of the 
story is concealed by the elegance of the descriptions and 
the sweetness and delicacy of the poetical language. His 
next great work was the " Specimens of the British Poets," 
in seven octavo volumes, published in 1819. The next 
year he entered upon the editorship of the " New Monthly 
Magazine." He contributed, however, but little to this 
periodical, though he drew around him a band of eleven 
writers, who made it very popular. In 1827 he was 
elected lord rector of his own mother -university at 
Glasgow by the free and unanimous choice of the stu- 
dents. "It was deep snow," Allan Cunningham writes, 
' ' when he reached the college-green; the students were 
drawn up in parties, pelting one another; the poet ran 
into the ranks, threw several snow-balls with unerring 
aim, then summoning the scholars around him in the 
hall, delivered a speech replete with philosophy and elo- 
quence. It is needless to say how this was welcomed." 
On the 9th of May of the next year he lost his amiable 
wife, which was a severe blow to him. In 1830 he re- 
signed the editorship of the "New Monthly," and, lend- 
ing his name to another publisher, started the " Metro- 
politan Magazine," in which he was afterwards aided by 
his poetical friend Thomas Moore. In 1834 he wrote 
the " Life of Mrs. Siddons," in two octavo volumes- This 
added but little to his reputation. His subsequent publi- 
cations were a " Life of Shakspeare," "The Life and 
Times of Petrarch," "Frederick the Great and his Court 
and Times," and some smaller poems. In 1843 ne ^ e ^ 
London for Bologne on account of his health, and he 
resided in that city, with his niece as his companion, till 
his death, which took place on the 15th of June, 1844. 
On the third of the next month his remains were deposited 
in the "Poets' Corner" in Westminster Abbey, over 
against the monument to Shakspeare. 

2. Samuel Rogers. (See 8 in "Who?") 

3. Mark Akenside was born on the 9th of Novem- 
ber, 1 72 1, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and was educated at 
the University of Edinburgh. His parents designed him 
for the ministry, but as his education progressed other 

5* 



54 



WHO? 



views governed him, and he devoted himself to the study 
of medicine as his future profession. After remaining 
three years at the Scottish capital he went to Leyden, 
where he also studied three years, and took his degree of 
M.D. in 1744. Returning home the same year, he pub- 
lished his "Pleasures of the Imagination." On offering 
the copy to Dodsley, he demanded one hundred and 
twenty pounds for the manuscript ; but the wary publisher 
hesitated to pay such a price for the work of an unknown 
youth of twenty-three. He therefore showed the work to 
Pope, when the latter, having glanced over a few pages, 
said, " Don't be niggardly about the terms, for this is no 
every-day writer." No sooner was it "published than it 
excited great attention, and received general applause. 
But he could not live by this alone, so he went back to 
his profession. He first settled in Northampton ; but 
finding little encouragement there he removed to Hamp- 
stead, and thence finally to London. Here he experienced 
the difficulty of getting into notice in a large city, and 
though he acquired several professional honors he never 
obtained any large share of practice. He was busy in 
presenting himself to public notice, by publishing medical 
essays and observations and delivering lectures, when his 
career was terminated by a putrid fever on the 23d of 
January, 1770. Few poets of the eighteenth century are 
to be ranked before the author of "Pleasures of the Im- 
agination." 

4. James Montgomery, an Englishman, was the son 
of a Moravian preacher, and was born at Irvine, in Ayr- 
shire, November 4, 1771. When seven years old he was 
placed at a Moravian seminary at Fulneck, in Yorkshire. 
Here among this people, remarkable for their ardor in re- 
ligion, he received his education, and made commendable 
proficiency in the Greek, Latin, German, and French lan- 
guages, and in his English studies. Montgomery early 
evinced a taste for poetry, but his poetic wares did not 
meet with very ready sales, and in 1792 he established him- 
self in Sheffield as an assistant in a newspaper office, — the 
"Sheffield Register." Two years afterwards Mr. Gales 
being obliged to fly from England to avoid a prosecution, 
our author undertook the editorship and publication of 



WHO? 



55 



the paper. He soon got himself into trouble, being 
prosecuted for printing a ballad written by a clergyman 
in Belfast in commemoration of the destruction of the 
Bastile, which was in that period of great political agita- 
tion interpreted into a seditious libel. He was convicted, 
and sentenced to a fine of twenty pounds and three 
months' imprisonment in York Castle. While he was 
gone a kind friend stepped in and took charge of his 
office, doing as well for the absent one as he would have 
done by himself. On returning to his editorial duties, 
Montgomery abstained from politics as much as possible. 
But in January, 1795, he was tried for a second imputed 
political offense, — a paragraph in his paper which re- 
flected on the conduct of a magistrate in quelling a riot 
at Sheffield. He was again convicted, and sentenced to 
six months' imprisonment and a fine of thirty pounds. 
On June 14, 1796, he wrote "Pleasures of Imprison- 
ment," being two epistles to a friend, written in a humor- 
ous strain, telling what he does during his confinement. 
In 1797 he printed his "Prison Amusements" — the pro- 
duction of his pen during his recent stay in York Castle. 
In 1805 he published "The Ocean," and the next year 
"The Wanderer of Switzerland, and other Poems," which, 
in spite of the very ill-natured criticisms in the " Edin- 
burgh Review," soon rose into popularity, and completely 
established the reputation of the author as a poet. In 
1825 he retired from the editorship of the Sheffield news- 
paper, which post he had filled for more than thirty years. 
On this occasion his friends and neighbors invited him 
to a public entertainment. In 1830 and 1831 our author 
was selected to deliver a course of lectures, at the Royal 
Institution, on Poetry and General Literature. This he 
prepared for the press, and it appeared in 1833: a more 
interesting and instructive work on general literature, in 
the same compass, can hardly be found. He died in 
1854. 

43. Marie Dudevant. — Who was " George Sand"? 
Am. Marie Dudevant. 

Madame Dudevant was a distinguished French au- 
thoress, born in Paris on the 1st of July, 1804. Her 
Christian name was Amantine Lucile Aurora Dupin, and 



56 



WHO ? 



she was a daughter of Maurice Dupin, an army officer, and 
a great-granddaughter of the celebrated Maurice de Saxe, 
who was a natural son of Augustus II. of Poland. Four 
years after her birth she lost her father, and was educated 
by her grandmother, Madame Dupin, at the chateau de 
Nohant, in the department of Indre, where she had full 
liberty to indulge and develop her romantic and way- 
ward tendencies. In her thirteenth year she entered the 
convent of the Augustines Anglaises, Paris, where she 
remained till her fifteenth year ; while there she was a 
zealous devotee, accepting the mysteries of Catholicism 
with ecstasy, which was followed by a morbid reaction. 
She tormented herself with scruples, accused herself of 
constant sin, and became very despondent. In 1820 she 
left the convent and returned to Nohant, where her love 
and taste for natural scenery were fostered and developed. 
She delighted in horseback excursions, and studied phi- 
losophy in the works of Aristotle, Leibnitz, and Locke ; 
but Rousseau was her greatest favorite among authors. In 
182 1, on the death of her grandmother, she inherited the 
estate of Nohant, and the next year married M. Dudevant, 
a retired army officer. They had two children, Maurice 
and Solange. After living together about ten years, the 
husband and wife separated by mutual consent, because 
their tastes or tempers were incompatible. She relin- 
quished her fortune to her husband, and became a resident 
of Paris, adopting the profession of literature for a sub- 
sistence. The name of "Sand" was assumed in conse- 
quence of a friendship formed with a young student by 
name of Jules Sandeau, conjointly with whom she wrote 
her first novel, "Rose et Blanche," which appeared in 
1831, with "Jules Sand" on the title-page as the author's 
name. This was later changed to "George Sand" when 
she published "Indiana," a year later, and was then 
adopted as her pseudonym. "Lelia," a paradoxical 
work of fiction, is thought to be her most famous novel. 
" George Sand" was an advanced liberal in politics. 
About the beginning of her literary career she assumed the 
costume of the male sex. She professed to be a socialist, 
and denounced the conventional system of marriage. 
She was an ardent partisan of the revolution of 1848, after 



WHO ? 



57 



which she edited a democratic weekly for a short time. 
" In spite of her defects, and the exceeding immorality of 
many of her works, she awakens an admiration which can- 
not be reasoned away." Her "Spiridion" and " Con- 
suelo" were written under the inspiration of her friend 
Pierre Leroux. Madame Dudevant died in 1876. She 
wrote a number of dramas, among which are " Claudie," 
"Moliere," "Flaminio," and ''Lucie." In 1854 she 
gave the public her autobiography, " Histoire de ma Vie," 
which was very tame, considering the somewhat varied 
and romantic life the authoress had led. 

44. Robert Lytton.— Who is "Owen Meredith"? 
A?is. Robert Lytton. 

Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton — better known under 
his nom de plume of "Owen Meredith" — is the son of 
Sir Bulwer Lytton, and was born in England in 1831. 
His poems are " Clytemnestra, and other Minor Poems/' 
1855 j " The Wanderer, a Collection of Poems in Many 
Lands," 1859 ; "Lucile," a poem, i860, etc. 

45. Edmund Spenser. — Who is called the "Poet's 
Poet"? Ans. Edmund Spenser. (See 18 in "Who?") 

46. Charles Lamb. — Who called him thus? Ans. 
Charles Lamb. (See 6 in " Who ?") 

47. Daniel De Foe. — Who was the " Father of 
English Novelists"? Ans. Daniel De Foe. (See 29 in 
"Who?") 

48. B. P. Shillaber.— Who wrote "Mrs. Parting- 
ton"? Ans. B. P. Shillaber. 

49. Honore" de Balzac. — Who was one of the 
greatest writers of French prose? Ans. Honore de 
Balzac. 

Honore de Balzac was born at Tours, May 16, 1799, 
and died in Paris, August 20, 1850. On leaving school 
he devoted himself to literature. Originally he had no 
faculty in the art of composition, and his style was un- 
formed. "There is no other record in the history of liter- 
ature of a man writing such books as Balzac did who began 
with such poor ones," Before the age of twenty-three 
he had published half a dozen novels and romances under 
assumed names, as "Horace de Saint-Aubin," "Lord 
R'hrone," etc. These were very defective in plot, inci- 
c* 



5 8 WHO? 



dent, and style, only giving here and there a rare gleam 
of the fine qualities which shine in his later writings. 
After eight years' "hard study in story-writing, "Dernier 
des Chouan" appeared ; this was the first novel that he 
recognized and signed with his own nanfe. Balzac had 
the most unbounded self-esteem, and his vanity at times 
was unbearable. His father intended him for the law, 
but at an early age the son asserted his right to choose 
for himself, and announced his intention of becoming a 
literary man. He was laughed at, and told he had no 
talents that way ; that he would starve in the attempt, and 
fail in the end. He would not heed them, but at fourteen 
years of age told his two sisters, "You will see, I shall one 
day be celebrated." At twenty-five we find him in the 
garret, in scanty lodgings, poor and in debt, with no in- 
dication of his boasted talents. In his thirtieth year 
appeared his " Physiologie du Manage" and the book 
that lifted him out of the crowd and placed him in the 
front row of living authors, " Peau de Chagrin." These 
were followed by " Medecin de Compagne," and " Pere 
Goriot." The remarkable series of romances, novels, 
and tales to which he gave the name of " Corned ie hu- 
maine" attracted universal attention. The same charac- 
ters ran through some two or three scores of volumes, each 
connected with the other, and forming part of the general 
plot. To fix these characters in his mind Balzac was in 
the habit of writing out a synopsis of the history of each 
one, — date of birth, parents and principal relatives, physi- 
cal and moral characteristics, — which he laid carefully away 
for future reference. This sketch was consulted, if neces- 
sary, when such a one reappeared on the scene, which is 
often the case. In conversation the author would often 
refer to different people in the "Human Comedy" as if 
they really existed. Literary expression was not a natural 
gift with him, and the process to reach it was painful 
indeed. His brain was full of creation, but there was 
always a battle between the idea and the form. With ex- 
traordinary perseverance and literary conscientiousness, 
he at last found the suitable term for the act and the 
thing. He was not quick, nor at first clear. The idea 
presented itself vaguely, clogged with irrelevant matter, 



WHO? 59 



and came into definite shape gradually. He thought his 
style was perfect, and unblushingly said that there were 
only three men in France who could write French, — 
Victor Hugo, Theophile Gautier, and himself. When 
persons wrote easily, as by a flash of inspiration, Balzac 
thought it a pity that they did not study their subject 
more, as he did ; he could not realize that any one could 
bring from the brain a child of light without great pain 
and labor. Sometimes his proof-sheets were returned 
eight and ten times, he always changing, correcting, add- 
ing, and erasing, till there was often hardly a vestige of 
the original plot retained. This greatly cut off his profits, 
as the publishers were obliged to charge for these whole- 
sale corrections. His sister states that he wrote seventy- 
nine works, containing eleven thousand pages, between 
1827 and 1848. On the publication of his " Medecin 
de Compagne" in 1835, he received a complimentary 
letter from the Countess Evelina Hanska, a Polish lady. 
After her husband's death Balzac went to Poland and 
married her, in 1848. He had almost the dress of a monk 
of the middle ages. " His working costume was a white 
flannel robe, thrown back at the throat, and tied with a 
cord at the waist. It was never stained with ink as one 
might suppose. He had a thick neck, white and smooth 
as a woman's, which was in striking contrast to a face 
highly colored. His lips were sensual and good-humored ; 
the nose was square at the end, with well-cut nostrils. 
When he posed to David d'Angers for his bust, he called 
attention to this feature ; ' Pay attention to my nose, 
David: there is a world in my nose.' The forehead was 
noble, with a perpendicular line in the middle, reaching 
to the space between the eyes. His hair was thrown back 
in confusion. The most striking feature was the eye, 
handsome and magnetic. He had small, white hands, 
with tapering fingers, the rose-colored nails scrupulously 
cared for. His hand was one of his vanities, and a compli- 
ment on them pleased him much."* 

50. Washington Irving. — Who is "Geoffrey Cray- 
on"? Ans. Washington Irving. (See 39 in "Who ?") 

51. The Edinburgh Reviewers. — Who were the 
"Oat-fed Reviewers?" Ans. The Edinburgh Reviewers. 



Scribner's Magazine. 



60 WHO. 



The "Edinburgh Review" was first published in Edin- 
burgh. Scotland, in October, 1802. The founders of this 
celebrated magazine were Lord Francis Jeffrey, Sidney 
Smith, and Henry (Lord) Brougham. Tnree numbers 
were edited by Smith ; but, upon his removal to London, 
the entire charge rested upon Jeffrey, who held the posi- 
tion of editor for the ensuing twenty-six years, and his 
contributions to the "Edinburgh Review" extended to a 
period of nearly fifty years, and amount to over three 
hundred articles. The " Review" was successful from the 
first, and in a short time the circulation had increased to 
about nine thousand, and in 1S13 had considerably ex- 
ceeded twelve thousand. Jeffrey, in his quaint way, said, 
"It stood on two legs, the one being the criticism of 
current literature, the other being Whig politics." Black- 
wood's "Edinburgh Magazine" (see 117 in "What?") 
was a rival publication, and in its series of articles called 
the " Noctes" gave many a racy hit to its Whig oppo- 
nents, Jeffrey and Brougham. The commencement of 



the "Edinburgh Review" formed a new era in English 
literature, and completely changed the style of the popu- 
lar magazines. Scott, Byron, Moore, Coleridge, Words- 
worth, and other distinguished poets of that period were 
severely — sometimes unjustly — criticised. These reviews 
were mostly written by Jeffrey's caustic pen, and made 
the reviewed indignant and haughty by turns, yet most 
of them afterwards became warm friends of the great 
reviewer. 

52. Lord Gordon Byron. — Who called them thus? 
Ans. Lord Gordon Byron. 

George Gordon Byron was born in London in : 
and died in Greece in 1S24, while engaged in the attempt 
to restore that country to her ancient glory and renown. 
His father was a dissipated and profligate captain in the 
Guards, and abandoned his wife and the little George 
when the latter was but two years old. From the disso- 
lute father Byron inherited much of the evil in his char- 
acter. The father's name was John Byron, and the 
mother's Catherine Gordon, of Gight, in Aberdeenshire, 
Scotland. After her husband deserted her, Catherine 
took her lame boy with her to Aberdeen to live as well as 



WHO? 6 1 



she could on one hundred and thirty pounds a year. In 
Scottish schools the boy received his early education, 
until an announcement came to the delighted mother that 
by the death of his grand-uncle her boy was a lord, and 
owner of Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire. The 
weak woman was then seized with a horror of her son's 
lameness, which was from his birth, and tried every means 
in her power to cure him, but with no success. Byron 
was always sensitive about his foot, and a look at it would 
stab him like a dagger. After preparing for the university 
at Harrow School, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, 
1805, with a reputation for general information very rare 
in one of his age. In 1807 appeared his first published 
work, " Hours of Idleness," a collection of poems no 
way remarkable, and now chiefly remembered through the 
castigation which it received from the Edinburgh Re- 
viewers. To this criticism, which galled but did not 
depress him, we owe the first spirited outbreak of his 
talents, in the satire entitled "English Bards and Scotch 
Reviewers," which was published in 1809. A few days 
before the publication of this satire he took his seat in the 
House of Lords, but he was ill qualified to shine in poli- 
tics, and seeing that he made no impression there he soon 
left England for the Continent. During his absence he 
entered into every kind of dissipation of which man could 
think. After two years of foreign travel, having lost his 
mother, he returned home in 181 1, his private affairs 
being much embarrassed. He brought with him the first 
two cantos of " Childe Harold," which he had written 
abroad. They were published in March, 1812, and were 
received by the public with unbounded admiration ; so 
that Byron emerged at once from a state of loneliness and 
neglect, unusual in one of his position, to be the magnet 
and idol of society. As he laconically says in his journal, 
"I awoke one morning and found myself famous." In 
May of the next year appeared his " Giaour," and in No- 
vember, " The Bride of Abydos," written in a week, and 
about three months afterwards, " The Corsair," composed 
in ten days. On the 2d of January, 1815, he was married 
to Miss Millbanke, the only daughter and heiress of Sir 
Ralph Millbanke. The only issue of this marriage was 

6 



62 WHO ? 



Augusta Ada, born on the ioth of December of that same 
year. On the 15th of January of the next year they sepa- 
rated forever. The cause of this was, and still is, a mys- 
tery. But most of those who composed the circle in 
which Lord Byron moved declared against him, and 
society withdrew its countenance. This plunged him 
wilder than before into excesses of the most revolting 
character. Deeply stung by the verdict, he resolved to 
leave his country, and on the 25th of April, 1816, quitted 
England for the last time. His course was through Flan- 
ders and along the Rhine to Switzerland, where he resided 
till the close of the year, and where he composed some 
works, — the third canto of " Childe Harold," the " Pris- 
oner of Chillon," "Darkness," "The Dream," part of 
" Manfred," and a few minor poems. The next year he 
went to Italy, and it would be well to draw a veil over 
his course of life while there. In Italy he wrote his last 
and most dangerous work, "Don Juan." In 1823 he 
warmly interested himself in the cause of the Greeks, 
who were fighting to free themselves from the yoke of the 
Turks. He sailed for the little island with all the funds 
he could command, to assist them in their struggle for 
freedom. On the 5th of January, 1824, he arrived at 
Missolonghi, where his reception was enthusiastic in the 
extreme, the whole population coming out to greet him. 
But his plans were scarcely arranged to aid the nation he 
had so befriended, when he was seized with a fever, and 
expired on the 19th of April, 1824. His works are very 
immoral in their tendency, and cannot fail to sow seeds 
of evil where they are much read. "Don Juan" has 
exquisite passages, full of fire and passion, then again it 
is low and groveling. His vein of satire throughout the 
poem is wonderful, but there are many lines of exquisite 
beauty and softness. Byron was an unlucky genius, born 
all askew, as it were. 

53. Joseph Addison. — Who wrote "Arcadia"? 
Ans. Joseph Addison. 

Joseph Addison was born at Milton, in Wiltshire, Eng- 
land, where his father was rector, on the 1st of May, 1672. 
He entered the University of Oxford at the age of fifteen, 
where he devoted himself to classical studies, the fruits of 



WHO ? 63 



which were soon seen in a small volume of Latin poems, 
that attracted considerable attention. While at Oxford, 
he distinguished himself rather for the elegance than the 
depth of his scholarship. In his twenty-second year he 
addressed some verses to Mr. Dryden, which procured 
him the notice and approbation of that poet, for whom 
he afterwards wrote a prefatory " Essay on the Georgics," 
which Dryden prefixed to his translation in 1697. Before 
this, however, Addison had won the favor of that patron 
of letters, Lord Keeper Somers, who, in 1699, procured for 
him a pension of three hundred pounds a year, to enable 
him to travel in Italy. In this classical land he com- 
posed his "Epistle to Lord Halifax," one of his best 
poetical productions, his "Dialogues on Medals," and 
most of his " Cato." Soon after his return he published his 
" Travels in Italy," dedicated to his patron, Lord Somers, 
illustrative of the classical association of that renowned 
land. The death of King William deprived Addison of 
his pension, but his poem on the battle of Blenheim com- 
pensated him for his loss by giving him the place of com- 
missioner of appeals. After this he rapidly advanced 
along the path of political distinction; he was made 
under-secretary of state, and went with Wharton to Ireland. 
In 1 716 he married the Dowager-Countess of Warwick, 
to whose son he had formerly been tutor. This union 
was an unhappy one, and no doubt shortened his days. 
Addison was all susceptibility, delicacy, and refinement ; 
she the reverse : proud and arrogant of her station and 
birth, she made him feel that she had condescended in 
marrying him. In 1717 he was appointed secretary of 
state, an office for which his fastidious delicacy of taste, 
his timid character, and total want both of business talents 
and parliamentary eloquence rendered him on all accounts 
singularly unfit. He soon resigned, and was rewarded for 
his services with a pension of fifteen hundred pounds a 
year. He died on the 17th of June, 1719, leaving behind 
him a most enviable reputation for purity and integrity of 
life, though it must be admitted that he drank deeply of 
intoxicating liquors, and passed from seven to eight hours 
a day in taverns and coffee-houses. Addison was a fre- 
quent visitor at Holland House, where he resided during 



64 who? 



the latter part of his life. It is in connection with the 
" Spectator" that Addison's fame chiefly, if not altogether, 
rests. This was begun on March i, 1713, and appeared 
daily till it had reached six hundred and thirty-five num- 
bers. Addison was assisted in this by Steele, as he had 
before assisted Steele in "The Tatler." Addison wrote 
all the papers marked with any one of the letters com- 
posing the word Clio. Each number of the " Spectator" 
contains a complete essay, generally upon some subject of 
moral importance, and occasionally a disquisition on the 
principles of criticism, and the application of those prin- 
ciples in judging of some great work of art or literature. 
The object of these elegant publications was in the highest 
degree laudable and excellent. Samuel Johnson says, 
" Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but 
not coarse, elegant but not ostentatious, must give his 
days and nights to the study of Addison." We will con- 
clude with what Chambers says: "In Addison the reader 
will find a rich but chaste vein of humor and satire; les- 
sons of morality and religion, divested of all austerity and 
gloom ; criticisms at once pleasing and profound, and 
pictures of national character and manners that must ever 
charm from their vivacity and truth. Greater energy of 
character, or a more determined hatred of vice and 
tyranny, would have curtailed his usefulness as a public 
censor. He led the nation insensibly to a love of virtue 
and freedom, to a purer taste in morals and literature, 
and to the importance of those everlasting truths which 
so warmly engaged his heart and imagination." "The 
Spectator" has made the old beau of the fashionable 
world, Will Honeycomb, and the country gentleman, 
dear Sir Roger de Coverley, so real to us all, that they 
seem indeed like friends, whom we may chance yet to 
meet. He was a warm friend of Dean Swift. 

54. Jubal. — Who invented the organ and harp ? Ans. 
Jubal. 

Jubal is spoken of in Scripture as "the father of all 
such as handle the organ and harp," as his brother Jabal 
is mentioned as " the father of all such as dwell in tents." 
From all accounts, both sacred and profane, music must 
have been early known among mankind, and its perform- 



WHO? 65 



ers must have been among the earliest civilizers of the 
world. 

55. Thomas Moore. — Who was "Bard of Erin"? 
Am. Thomas Moore. 

Thomas Moore was the son of a respectable tradesman 
in Dublin, and was born in that city on the 28th of May, 
1779. After the usual preparatory course of study, he 
entered Trinity College, in his native city, where he 
graduated in November, 1799. He then went to Eng- 
land, and became a student in the Middle Temple ; b^r. 
though ultimately called to the bar, he gave his time 
chiefly to literary pursuits. He was very precocious as a 
child, and fond of acting mimic scenes to a wonderful 
degree. This he did to amuse and entertain his mother's 
guests. In 1800 he published his "Odes of Anacreon," 
which were received with great favor. He has diffused 
over his version a rapturous and passionate air not in har- 
mony with the unadorned simplicity of the Greek ; he is 
fanciful where the original is sensuous. The reputation, 
both as poet and scholar, that Moore acquired by his 
' 'Anacreon, ' ' combined with his musical and conversational 
talents, immediately introduced him to the refined and 
intellectual society then assembled round the Prince of 
Wales, afterwards George IV. Moore's success in society 
during the entire period of his public career was more 
brilliant than that of any English, Irish, or Scottish poet 
whose life has been put on record. Burns and Byron 
had each his season. While in this aspect, socially, Sir 
Walter Scott was eminent, Tom Moore was pre-eminent. 
The Irish poet rose from a humbler grade than his Scot- 
tish contemporary ; and his success in society was due to 
a faculty of which Scott was destitute. It was owing to 
his musical talent. Indeed, all Moore's distinction in 
life and literature is to be traced to music as its main source. 
His " Irish Melodies" are his memorial in bronze. Moore 
was aware of this himself, and in his diary gives a full 
history of his beginnings in music. He had no pedigree 
to boast of, but, nevertheless, he was manly enough, even 
amidst his fine friends, never to be ashamed of the very 
few relations of whom he knew anything. As a son, 
brother, and husband he appears in the most beautiful 

6* 



66 WHO ? 



light, being devotedly attached to his "darling mother," 
as he most frequently calls her. Only Dickens has sur- 
passed him among the literary men of this century in an 
intelligent interest in the stage. Soon after his " Odes" 
he published his miscellaneous poems, under the title of 
"The Poetical Works of the late Thomas Little," — a 
volume which was censured, and very severely, for its 
licentiousness, and of which the author many years after- 
wards was heartily ashamed. In 1803, Lord Moira, agreat 
but seemingly unappreciated friend of Moore's, procured 
him an appointment under government as register to the 
Court of Admiralty in Bermuda. Moore disliked to 
leave his mother, but, thinking it best for him to go, 
started to take up his home in the strange island. Lord 
Moira had before done something for him ; indeed, a 
great deal ; It was in obtaining for him the permission to 
dedicate his translation of "Anacreon" to the Prince of 
Wales. This was that start in life which thousands of 
men of more intense genius and extensive talent than 
ever Moore could pretend to never received. It is in 
his relations with this kind-hearted nobleman that he is 
to be seen in the least agreeable light by his admirers. 
Lord Moira was constantly doing for him, yet because he 
did not do all that the aspiring and imaginative poet 
expected he was not satisfied. In his correspondence, 
Moore sets Moira down as a not very clear-headed indi- 
vidual, who had sadly failed in his duty to him. Moore 
soon lost his situation at Bermuda through the malversa- 
tion of a person employed under him, whose dishonesty 
exposed Moore to the prosecution of the government, 
and involved him in difficulties from which he did not 
easily extricate himself. In 1806 he visited America, and 
published shortly after his return to England his remarks 
on American society and manners in a volume entitled 
" Epistles, Odes, and other Poems," which was reviewed 
with great and deserved severity in the ever-to-be-dreaded 
"Edinburgh Review." He did not like us. On the 25th 
of March, Lady-day, 181 1, Moore married Miss Bessy Dyke 
at St. Martin's Church, London. This young Irish lady — 
the sister of the first wife of the late Mr. W. H. Murray, 
of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh — was an actress when 



WHO? 67 



she won the heart of our very susceptible poet. Of all 
the society he ever sought, she perhaps was the lowest, for 
he always ran after rank and title : but the little Bessy 
won him, and, what is far better, kept him a devoted hus- 
band all his life. If ever there was happiness in conjugal 
life, surely Tom and Bessy had it. With almost any other 
woman in the world he would have made "shipwreck of 
married life," and been no better off than the rest of his 
rhyming kinsmen. Sir John Russell says, in his preface 
to "Moore's Diary," " Moore's domestic life gave scope 
to the best parts of his character. His beautiful wife, 
faultless in conduct, a fond mother, a lively companion, 
devoted in her attachments, always ready — perhaps too 
ready — to sacrifice her own domestic enjoyments that he 
might be known and admired, was a treasure of inestimable 
value to his happiness." Moore was a very little man. Sir 
Walter Scott described him as "being the smallest of men 
who were not deformed." He played the accompaniments 
to and sang his own songs in a peculiarly sweet and thrill- 
ing voice, which often brought tears to his listener's eyes. 
His " Irish Songs and Melodies" and his " Hebrew Melo- 
dies" display a depth of fervor, a richness of fancy, and 
a touching pathos, united to exquisite beauty and polish 
of versification, that will cause them to be read and ad- 
mired as long as the English language endures. In 181 7 
appeared his " Lalla Rookh." In 1833 "The Loves of 
the Angels." In 1825 his "Life of Sheridan." In 1830 
his "Life of Byron," in two volumes. The last three 
years of Moore's life had been a long disease, accompa- 
nied with neither bodily nor mental suffering, but a gradual 
softening of the brain and a reduction of the mind to a 
state of childishness. He died at Sloperton Cottage, near 
Devizes, on the 26th of February, 1852. After his death 
his friend Lord John Russell published his "Memoirs, 
Journal, and Correspondence," in eight volumes. The 
account of his duels that he did not fight will be found 
elsewhere. (See 132 in "What?") 

56. Samuel L. Clemens. — Who is " Mark Twain" ? 
Ans. Samuel L. Clemens. 

Mr. Clemens is an American writer of the humorous 
style. His principal works are "The Innocents Abroad, 



68 WHO? 



or the New Pilgrim's Progress." This gives one a good 
idea of European scenes and character, and is written in 
a strikingly original manner. "Roughing It," a history 
of life on the Western plains, is very entertaining. "The 
Gilded Age," etc. Mr. Clemens married Miss Langdon, 
of Elmira, New York, whose father was a wealthy coal 
merchant. 

57. William "Wordsworth. — Who was called the 
" High-Priest of Nature" ? Ans. William Wordsworth. 

William Wordsworth was born on the 7th of April, 
1770, at Cockermouth, in Cumberland, England. His 
parents were of the middle class, and designed him for the 
church ; but poetry and new prospects turned him into 
another path. His pursuit through life was poetry, and 
his profession that of stamp-distributer for the govern- 
ment, in the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland. 
He made his first appearance as a poet in 1793, by the 
publication of a thin quarto volume, entitled "The Even- 
ing Walk, an Epistle in Verse, addressed to a Young 
Lady." In the same year he published "Descriptive 
Sketches in Verse, taken during a Pedestrian Tour among 
the Alps," of which Coleridge thus writes in his " Bio- 
graphia Literaria" : " During the last of my residence at 
Cambridge in 1794, 1 became acquainted with Mr. Words- 
worth's first publication, entitled ' Descriptive Sketches,' 
and seldom, if ever, was the emergence of an original 
poetic genius above the literary horizon more evidently 
announced." Two years later the two poets, then per- 
sonally unknown to each other, were brought together at 
Nether Stowey, in Somersetshire. Coleridge was then in 
his twenty-fourth and Wordsworth in his twenty-sixth 
year. A congenialty of pursuit soon ripened into inti- 
macy, and in September, 1798, accompanied by Miss 
Wordsworth, they made a tour of Germany. Words- 
worth's next publication was the first volume of his "Lyr- 
ical Ballads," published just after he left for the Continent 
by Joseph Cottle, of Bristol, who purchased the copyright 
for thirty guineas. It proved a great failure, and Cottle 
was a loser by the bargain. The critics were very severe 
upon it. Jeffrey in the "Edinburgh," Byron in his 
"English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," and James Smith 



WHO? 69 



in his "Rejected Addresses," and others of less note in 
the literary world, all fired their shafts of reason and ridi- 
cule at poor Wordsworth. Many years, therefore, elapsed 
before he again appeared as a poet. But he was not idle, 
for in the same year that witnessed the failure of his 
" Lyrical Ballads" he wrote his " Peter Bell," though he 
kept it by him many years before he published it. In the 
year 18 13, Wordsworth married Miss Mary Hutchinson, 
of Penrith, and settled among his beloved lakes, first at 
Grasmere and afterwards at Rydal Mount. Southey's 
subsequent retirement to the same beautiful country, and 
Coleridge's visits to his brother-poets, originated the name 
of the "Lake Poets," by which the opponents of their 
principles and the critics of the "Edinburgh Review" dis- 
tinguished the three poets, whose names are so intimately 
connected. In 1807, Wordsworth put out two volumes 
of his poems, and in the autumn of 181 4 appeared, in 
quarto form, the celebrated "Excursion." In 1831 he 
visited Scotland, and on his way to the Lakes had an 
affecting interview — the last he ever had — with Sir Walter 
Scott, who was rapidly failing, and was about to try an 
Italian climate. The evening of the 22d of September 
was a very sad one in Scott's antique library. Lockhart 
was there, and Allen, the historical painter. Wordsworth 
was also in feeble health, and sat with bent shoulders with 
a green shade over his eyes to protect them from the light 
between his daughter and Sir Walter. The conversation 
was melancholy, and Sir Walter remarked that Smollett 
and Fielding had both been driven abroad by declining 
health, and had never returned. The next morning the 
host left his loved Abbotsford, and his guests retired with 
sorrowful hearts. Wordsworth has preserved a memento 
of his own feelings in a beautiful sonnet. The year 1834 
was a sort of era in his life, by the publication of his 
complete works in four volumes. His friends now, how- 
ever, began to fade from around him, and, as if trying to 
fill their place, worldly honors accumulated fast about him. 
In 1839, amid the acclamations of the students, he re- 
ceived the degree of Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford 
University. In 1842 he received a pension of three hun- 
dred pounds a year, with permission to resign his office of 



7 o 



WHO? 



stamp-distributer in favor of his son. Next year he was 
appointed to the laureateship, left vacant by the melan- 
choly death of Southey. After this he lived a quiet and 
dignified life at Rydal, evincing little apparent sympathy 
with the arduous duties and activities of the everyday 
world, — a world which he left, calmly and peacefully, at 
a good old age on the 2 2d of April, 1850. 

58. Ida Pfeiffer.* — Who is the greatest female trav- 
eler on record ? Ans. Ida Pfeiffer. 

Madame Ida Pfeiffer, a celebrated German traveler, was 
born in Vienna, October 15, 1795. In March, 1842, she set 
out for Asia Minor, where she passed nearly a year, and in 
1845 visited Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. In 1846 she 
undertook a journey round the world, which the plucky 
little woman accomplished in a little more than two years, 
after encountering great hardships and dangers. In 1850 
she published " A Woman's Journey Round the World" ; 
in 1 85 1 she entered upon a second trip, having received 
for this purpose a sum of money from the Austrian govern- 
ment. Her account of this expedition appeared in 1855, 
under the title of "A Second Voyage Round the World, 
from London to the Cape of Good Hope, Borneo, the 
Moluccas, California, Peru, and the United States." She 
died in 1858. 

59. Emanuel Swedenborg. — Who is called the 
" Swedish Seer" ? Ans. Emanuel Swedenborg. 

Emanuel Swedenborg, the most celebrated mystic of 
the eighteenth century, was born at Stockholm in 1688. 
At the age of eighty-four he died of apoplexy, in London, 
March 22, 1772. He was educated by his father, Jasper 
Swedberg, then called Bishop of West Gothland, in the 
doctrines of Lutheranism. - Emanuel Swedenborg studied 
theology, philosophy, mathematics, and natural sciences. - 
From 1710 to 1 714 he spent in scientific travels through 
England, France, Germany, and Holland, visiting the 
universities of these countries. In 17 19, Queen Ulrica 
raised him to the rank of nobility, when his name was 
changed from Swedberg to Swedenborg. His works on 
philosophy and mineralogy — ''Opera Philosophical Min- 



Her maiden name was Reyer. 



WHO ? 



71 



eralia" — attracted great attention among the scholars 
of Europe. " Swedenborg was first introduced to an in- 
tercourse with the spiritual world, according to his own 
statement, in 1743, at London. The eyes of his inward 
man, he says, were opened to see heaven and hell, and 
the spiritual world, with which he conversed, not only 
with his deceased acquaintances, but with the most distin- 
guished men of antiquity." All respected him as a man 
of profound learning, an astute thinker, and a virtuous 
member of society. He was never married, but esteemed 
the company of intellectual women. His works in Latin 
on the doctrines of the sect which bears his name are 
"Arcana Celestia," " De Scriptura Sacra," " De Vita," 
"De Fide," etc. 

60. Aristotle. — Who was the first Greek logician? 
Am. Aristotle. (See 22 in "Who?") 

61. Who were the J. G's? Ans. John G. Pierpont, 
John G. Saxe, John G. Percival, John G. Whittier, John 
G. C. Brainard, James G. Brooks, John G. Palfrey. 

1. John G. Pierpont was born in Litchfield, Con- 
necticut, on the 6th of April, 1785. He graduated at 
Yale College in 1804, where he received his education. 
The next year he went to South Carolina, as private tutor 
in the family of Colonel William Allston, and while 
there commenced his legal studies. Having been ad- 
mitted, he opened an office in Newburyport. He quitted 
the law for poetry, and wrote his "Airs of Palestine." 
At the close of the year 1816 he entered the theological 
school of Harvard, to devote himself to the ministry, and 
in April, 1819, was ordained pastor of the Hollis Street 
Church, in Boston. Mr. Pierpont might almost be said 
to have coquetted with law, poetry, and religion, such a 
short time did he seriously devote to any of them. In 
1835, ms health failing, he traveled abroad, visiting the 
principal cities of England, France, and Italy, and, ex- 
tending his tour to the East, he visited Athens, Corinth, 
Constantinople, and Asia Minor. Soon after his return 
home he collected and published, in 1840, all his poems. 
"The Airs of Palestine" is the longest poem in the volume, 
and for beauty of language, finish of versification, rich- 
ness of classical and sacred allusions, it takes rank among 



72 



WHO? 



the first of American poems. Mr. Pierpont is a reformer, 
— a whole-hearted and fearless one. A large number of 
his pieces have been written to promote the holy cause of 
temperance and freedom. He has also prepared some 
reading-books for schools : " The Little Learner," " The 
Young Reader," " National Reader," etc. 

2. John G. Saxe, so widely known as the "witty 
poet," is the son of Hon. Peter Saxe, and was born in 
Highgate, Franklin County, Vermont, June 2, 181 6. He 
studied law and was admitted to the bar, and entered 
upon the practice of his profession at St. Alban's. All his 
leisure time he devoted to belles-lettres, which finally won 
him from the law. In 1846 he delivered a poem called 
"Progress, a Satire," before the alumni of Middlebury 
College, where he had graduated, which won for him a 
high reputation. In 1847 appeared his "Rape of the 
Lock," and in 1848 his "Proud Miss MacBride," both 
of which excited great interest for their rollicking humor, 
happy puns, and pungent philosophy combined. In 1850 
the old established firm of Ticknor & Fields, of Boston, 
published his first volume of poems, which soon ran 
through twelve editions. He edited the "Sentinel" for 
five years, in Burlington, Vermont, and was elected State's 
attorney, and afterwards deputy collector of customs. He 
has devoted himself almost exclusively to literature of late 
years, and now makes "lecturing" his sole vocation, in 
which he greatly excels. 

3. John G. Percival, the eminent scholar and classic 
poet, was born at Berlin, Connecticut, September 15, 
1795, an d graduated at Yale College in 181 5 with high 
honors. He studied medicine in the same school, and 
received the degree of M.D. He did not engage, how- 
ever, in practice, but devoted himself chiefly to the culti- 
vation of his poetical powers and to the pursuits of science 
and literature. His first appearance as an author was in 
1 82 1, when he published a volume containing some minor 
poems and the first part of his "Prometheus." In 1822 
he published two volumes of miscellaneous poems and 
prose writings and the second part of "Prometheus." 
In 1824 he was for a short time in the service of the 
United States, as professor of chemistry in the Military 



WHO? 73 



Academy at West Point, and subsequently as a surgeon 
connected with the recruiting-station at Boston. In 1843 
appeared, at New Haven, his last published volume of 
miscellaneous poetry, entitled "The Dream of a Day, and 
other Poems." In 1854 he was appointed State geolo- 
gist of Wisconsin, and his first report on that survey was 
published in January, 1855. The l ar ger part of this year 
was passed in the field. While preparing his second re- 
port his health gave way, and, after a gentle decline, he 
died on the 2d of May, 1856, at Hazel Green, Wisconsin. 
He will be best known as a poet. 

4. John G. Whittier. (See 8 in "What?") 

5. John G. C. Brainard, son of the Hon. J. G. Brai- 
nard, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Connec- 
ticut, was born in New London on the 21st of October, 
1796, and graduated at Yale College in 1815. On leaving 
college he studied law, and commenced the practice of it 
at Middletown ; but the profession not being congenial to 
his tastes, he abandoned it, and in 1822 undertook the 
editorial charge of the "Connecticut Mirror," at Hart- 
ford, which for five years he enriched with his beautiful 
poetical productions and chaste and elevated prose com- 
positions. His pieces were extensively copied, often with 
very high encomium, and the influence his paper exerted 
over its readers could not but be purifying and elevating. 
That fearful slayer, consumption, had laid her marks 041 
him, and in less than five years he returned to his father's 
house, in New London, where, with calm and Christian 
resignation, he expired on the 26th of September, 1828. 
In 1825 a volume of his poems was published in New 
York, mostly made up from the columns of his newspaper. 
After his death a second edition appeared, in 1832, en- 
larged from the first, with the title of "Literary Re- 
mains," accompanied by a just and feeling memoir by the 
poet Whittier. Brainard and John G. Percival graduated 
from Yale in the same year. 

6. James Gordon Brooks, the son of an officer 
in the Revolutionary army, was born at Red Hook, near 
New York, on the 3d of September, 1801. He graduated 
at Union College, Schenectady, in 1819, and studied law, 
though he never entered upon its practice. In 1823 he 

d 7 



74 



WHO? 



removed to New York, and for several years edited the 
" Morning Courier," an able and influential paper. In 
1828 he was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth Aiken, of 
Poughkeepsie, who had for many years been a writer of 
verse for periodicals, under the signature of "Norma." 
The next year a collection of his and his wife's poetry 
was published, entitled " The Rivals of Este, and other 
Poems," by James G. and Mary E. Brooks. In 1831 he 
went to Winchester, Virginia, where he edited a news- 
paper for a year or two. In 1838 he removed to Roches- 
ter, then to Albany, New York, where he died in 1841. 
He was quite popular as a poet in his day. 

7. John Gorham Palfrey was an LL.D., and son 
of a Boston merchant, where he was born May 2, 1796. 
He graduated at Harvard in 1815, studied theology, and 
.in 181 8 was ordained over the Brattle Street Church, 
Boston, where he continued till 1831, when he was ap- 
pointed Dexter professor of sacred literature in Harvard 
University. From January, 1836, to October, 1842, he 
was the editor of the " North American Review." From 
1839 to 1842 he delivered courses of lectures before the 
Lowell Institute on the "Evidences of Christianity," 
which were afterwards published in two volumes octavo. 
He has also published four volumes of " Lectures on the 
Hebrew Scriptures," and a volume of sermons entitled 
" Duties of Private Life." In later years Mr. Palfrey has 
been much in public life, both in the legislature of his 
own State and in the Congress of the United States. In 
these positions he gave ample evidence of his earnest 
and hearty sympathies for freedom. In 1846 he pub- 
lished in the "Boston Whig" a series of "Papers on the 
Slave Power," which were collected in a pamphlet, and 
by their wide circulation did much good at the time. 

62. Aristides. — Who was surnamed "The Just"? 
Aits. Aristides. 

Aristides was a Greek, and his character shone con- 
spicuously as a private man, a counselor, and a general. 
During the war of the Greeks with the Persians, at the 
battle of Marathon the Greeks were led by ten generals, 
each of whom was to command for one day by turn, and 
Miltiades was to take his turn with the rest, although he 



WHO ? 



75 



was chief general. Aristides — one of the ten — had sense 
enough to see the evil of such a plan, and generosity to 
give up his honors for the benefit of his country. When 
it was his day to command he resigned it to Miltiades, 
because, as he said, " Miltiades is the best general." The 
other generals saw the propriety of this conduct, and re- 
signed to their commander in like manner. The battle 
of Marathon was fought and won by the Greeks 490 B.C. 
Notwithstanding many important services which Aristides 
rendered his country, he was punished with ostracism, 
and with scarcely any pretext. It was done through jeal- 
ousy of his title, " The Just," by which he was universally 
known throughout Greece. Many interesting anecdotes 
are recorded of him, among which are these: Once, when 
he was carrying a prosecution against his enemy, and 
sentence was about to be pronounced before the accused 
had spoken, Aristides entreated that the man might be 
heard in his own defense, and even helped him to make 
it. On another occasion, when he was judge, a trial came 
before him in which one of the parties tried to irritate 
him against the other, by declaring that the other had 
said and done many things injurious against Aristides. 
"Do not talk about that," said Aristides, "tell me only 
what harm he has done to thee, — it is thy cause I am 
judging." Plutarch, who has given a long history of our 
worthy Greek, tells us that at the time when Aristides was 
banished, when the people were inscribing the names on 
the shells, it is reported that an illiterate burgher came to 
Aristides, whom he took for some ordinary person, and, 
giving him his shell, desired him to write Aristides upon 
it. The good man, surprised at the adventure, asked him 
"whether Aristides had ever injured him?" "No," 
said he, "nor do I even know him ; but it vexes me to 
hear him everywhere called ' The Just.'' " Aristides made 
no answer, and having written his own name on the shell, 
returned it to the man. His period of exile was ten years; 
but three years after, when Xerxes was passing through 
Thessaly and Bceotia, by long marches, to Attica, the 
Athenians reversed this decree, and, by a public ordinance, 
recalled all the exiles. As to his death, some say it hap- 
pened in Pontus, whither he had sailed about some busi- 



7 6 WHO? 



ness of the state ; others say he died at Athens, full of 
days, honored and admired by his fellow-citizens. His 
monument is still to be seen at Phalereum, and is said to 
have been erected at the public charge, because he did 
not leave enough to defray the expenses of his funeral. 

63. Demosthenes. — Who was the "Prince of Ora- 
tors"? Ajis. Demosthenes. 

Demosthenes was only seven years old when his father 
died, and his guardians, proving unfaithful to their trust, 
squandered his property and neglected his education. He 
was a true Greek, however, and was indebted to his own 
industry and application for the discipline of his mind. 
By unwearied efforts, and by overcoming the greatest ob- 
stacles, such as weakness of the lungs, difficulty of pro- 
nunciation, and uncouth habits of body, he became the 
greatest orator in the world. That he might devote him- 
self the more closely to his studies, he confined himself 
to a retired cave and shaved half of his head, so that he 
could not decently appear in public. His abilities as an 
orator soon placed him at the head of the government, 
and in this capacity he roused and animated his country- 
men against the ambitious designs of Philip. The elo- 
quence of Demosthenes delayed for a time the fate of 
Greece. He was ever stirring up the Athenians against 
Philip and satirizing that king. His speeches were called 
"Philippics," since they were directed against Philip; 
hence Philippics has been a term signifying "speeches 
against any person." He also opposed Alexander, and 
made every effort to save his country. When the gen- 
erals of Alexander approached Athens, he fled for safety 
to the temple of Neptune, and there took poison to pre- 
vent himself from falling into their hands, in his sixtieth 
year, B.C. 322. 

64. Cervantes. — Who wrote " Don Quixote" ? Ans. 
Cervantes. 

Cervantes, who is better known by this name than by 
his surname of Saavedra, was born at Madrid, 1549. He 
led a life of hardship and poverty. Before he became 
an author he engaged in the military profession, and for 
five years and a half he endured all the horrors of an Al- 
gerine captivity. After his release and return to Spain 



WHO ? 



11 



he began to write plays for his maintenance ; but, though 
his pieces were acted with universal applause, he pined in 
poverty, and at last found himself in prison. In his con- 
finement he began his immortal work "Don Quixote," 
which was not finished till the expiration of several 
years. This work is admired and read in every known 
language ; but, though popular from the beginning, it 
produced Cervantes neither notice nor bread. He was, 
however, serene amidst his wretchedness. In "Don 
Quixote" Cervantes appears the purest of all humorists, 
gentle, genial, and kind. Cervantes is said to have killed 
his good knight, as did Addison later his Sir Roger de 
Coverley, in order to prevent any grosser hand from con- 
tinuing, and perhaps spoiling, his creation. Some writers 
put the birthplace of Cervantes at Alcala. He saw the 
light of day just three years before Shakspeare. 

65. Euclid. — Who was the greatest master of math- 
ematics? Ans. Euclid. 

Euclid flourished about 300 B.C., and was a mathema- 
tician of Alexandria. He distinguished himself by his 
writings on music and geometry, but particularly by fif- 
teen books on the elements of mathematics, which con- 
sist of problems and theorems and demonstrations. His 
"Elements" have gone through innumerable editions. He 
was greatly respected by antiquity, and his school, which 
he established at Alexandria, became the most famous in 
the world for mathematics. 

66. Chaucer. — Who wrote the " Canterbury Tales," 
and what are they ? Ans. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote them. 
(See 15 in "Who?") 

Chaucer represents twenty-nine pilgrims traveling to- 
gether to Canterbury, and each of the twenty-nine is to 
tell a story to shorten the way ; he who tells the best was 
to be provided with his supper at the expense of the rest. 

67. Who are commonly styled "The Ancient Fathers" ? 
A?is. Tertullian, Origen, and Cyprian. 

1. Tertullian lived at Carthage, and flourished in the 
reigns of Severus and Caracalla, about 193 a. d. He was 
originally a pagan, but afterwards embraced Christianity, 
and became one of its ablest defenders. His writings 
evince that he possessed a lively imagination, fervid 

7* 



7 8 WHO? 



eloquence, strength of reasoning, and a considerable ac- 
quaintance with style. His "Apology for the Christians" 
and his "Prescriptions" are the best esteemed of his 
numerous works. The historian Gibbon calls him "The 
stern Tertullian." 

2. Origen was born at Alexandria about 185 a.d., 
and died in 254, having been presbyter of that city. He 
wrote in Greek, and was much celebrated for his learn- 
ing. He was endowed with unaffected humility and 
modesty, and was extremely rigid in following the Chris- 
tian rules. In the sixty-ninth year of his age he suffered 
martyrdom. His works are many, and include a number 
of homilies, commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and 
different treatises, besides his "Hexapla." This last work 
first gave the hint for the compilation of our polyglot 
Bibles. Mosheim calls him the " Luminary of the Chris- 
tian World," during the age in which he lived, but ob- 
serves that he failed in justness of judgment, and was given 
to the Platonic philosophy. 

3. Cyprian was a native and a bishop of Carthage. 
He was born about the beginning of the third century, of 
heathen parents, but became a convert to Christianity, 
and was a principal father of the church. To be more 
devoted to purity and study, he is said to have abandoned 
his wife, and, as a proof of his charity, he distributed 
his goods to the poor. He wrote eighty-one letters, be- 
sides several treatises, and rendered his works valuable by 
the information he conveys respecting the discipline of 
the ancient church. He was beheaded as a martyr, at 
Carthage, September 14, 258 a.d. Mosheim speaks of 
him as possessing the most eminent abilities and flowing 
eloquence, but rather too attentive to the ornaments of 
rhetoric. 

68. Cuvier. — Who was " the greatest naturalist of his 
age"? Ans. Cuvier. 

George L. Cuvier, whose works on natural history form 
an imperishable monument of his genius, was born August 
23, 1769, a year which gave birth to a greater number of 
eminent men than perhaps any other on record. He died 
nearly sixty-three years of age, in Paris. It is curious 
that the greatest of naturalists should have had the largest 



WHO 



79 



of brains, his having exceeded in weight those of the most 
voluminous that could be found. He was a baron and 
a peer of France. In religion he was a Protestant. 

69. Charles von Linnaeus. — Who was the " Father 
of Botany" ? Ans. Linnaeus. 

Charles von Linnaeus was the son of a Swedish clergy- 
man, born in the province of Smaland, 1707. He prac- 
ticed physic with such popularity and success that at the 
age of thirty-four he was nominated professor of physic 
and botany in the University of Upsal, where he had been 
educated. His sovereign duly noticed his services, and, 
besides other favors, conferred upon him the honor of 
nobility. With an unparalleled desire for knowledge, Lin- 
naeus undertook to explore the inhospitable deserts of 
Lapland, and through ten degrees of latitude he exposed 
himself, generally on foot, to every sort of fatigue. He 
afterwards visited other countries. He died in 1778, 
having been seized with apoplexy two years before. To 
his sagacity and discernment science is indebted for the 
useful and familiar division of plants and animals into 
classes. To the most extensive knowledge he united the 
most indefatigable industry, and before his publication of 
his "Genera Plantarum" he most minutely examined the 
characters of more than eight hundred plants. 

70. Elizabeth Barrett Browning. — Who has been 
called England's greatest poetess? Ans. Mrs. Browning. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, generally esteemed " Eng- 
land's greatest poetess," was the daughter of Mr, Barrett, 
a gentleman of fortune, living in Herefordshire, and 
was born in 1809. When a child of ten years old she 
began to write in prose and verse, and at fifteen her 
powers as a writer were known to her friends. Her early 
education, conducted chiefly and in a most thorough 
manner by her father, included the acquisition of the an- 
cient and modern languages, as well as the study of mental 
and natural philosophy. Her first attempts at authorship 
were contributions to the magazines of a series of essays 
on the Greek poets. In her seventeenth year she pub- 
lished her first book, a metaphysical poem, entitled 
" Essay on Mind." In 1833 appeared anonymously her 
translation of " Prometheus Bound," — " a wonderful pro- 



8o WHO ? 



duction for a young lady, but not a good translation in and 
by itself." Her public fame, however, began with 1838, 
when she collected her best verses from the periodicals 
and published them as ''The Seraphim, and other Poems." 
Soon after, her health began to fail from the breaking of a 
blood-vessel in the lungs, and she was taken to Torquay, 
on the southern coast of Devonshire, for her health. 
Here a sad accident occurred, which threw, a shadow 
over many years of her life, and which nearly caused its 
loss. Her brother and two of his young friends went out 
in a small boat for a few hours' sail. The boat was over- 
turned, and the three young lives were lost. So great 
was the shock to her then delicate frame, that nearly a 
year passed before she could be removed to London, and 
then only by easy stages of twenty miles a day. In a 
large and darkened room in her father's house, to which 
only her own family and a few devoted friends were ad- 
mitted, she passed a number of years, gaining strength 
slowly, devoting her time to the best books in various lan- 
guages, and writing poetry according to her inspiration. 
It was from this seclusion that she sent forth, in 1844, the 
first collected edition of her Poems, in two volumes, upon 
which her fame chiefly rests. In 1846 the brightness of 
Miss Barrett's life was restored, and perfected in her mar- 
riage with Robert Browning, a poet of no mean preten- 
sions. Soon after they went to Italy, — first to Pisa, and 
then to Florence, where they settled for life. In 1850 
she published her collected works, together with several 
new poems, among which was " Lady Geraldine's Court- 
ship." In 1851 appeared " Casa Guidi Windows," the 
theme of which is the struggle made by the Tuscans for 
freedom in 1849. "Aurora Leigh," her longest produc- 
tion, was published in 1856. "Poems before Congress" 
appeared in i860, relating chiefly to the Italian war of 
1859. She died at Florence, June 29, 1861. Miss Mit- 
ford, in her book entitled " Recollections of a Literary 
Life," describes Mrs. Browning in her early womanhood 
as " of a slight, delicate figure, with a shower of dark curls 
falling on each side of a most expressive face, large, tender 
eyes, richly fringed by dark eyelashes, a smile like a sun- 
beam, and such a look of youthfulness that I had some 



WHO? 



difficulty in persuading a friend that she was the trans- 
latress of * ^Eschylus,' and the authoress of 'Essay on 
Mind.' She was certainly one of the most interesting 
persons I had ever seen." 

71. Agamemnon. — Who is styled "King of Men" ? 
Ans. Agamemnon of Greece. 

Agamemnon was brother of Menelaus, and King of 
Mycenae. He was called "King of Men" by Homer in 
his " Iliad." He commanded the Grecian forces against 
Troy. Agamemnon married Clytemnestra, daughter of 
Tyndarus, King of Sparta. She was already married to 
a son of Thyestes, but the father getting dissatisfied with 
the alliance, told Agamemnon if he would carry her off 
and make her his queen, he might have her. Nothing 
loath, the Greek king consented, and we are not told 
whether it was so much as by Clytemnestra's leave. Aga- 
memnon was one of the most powerful princes of his time, 
and on this account was chosen commander-in-chief of 
the Greeks in their expedition against Troy. The dis- 
pute of Agamemnon with Achilles before the walls of 
Troy respecting the captive Chryseis ; the consequent 
loss to the Greeks of the services of Achilles ; his return 
to the war, in order to avenge the death of Patroclus ; and 
his victory over Hector, form the principal subject of the 
"Iliad." In the division of the captives after the taking 
of Troy, Cassandra, one of the daughters of Priam, fell 
to the lot of Agamemnon. She was indued with the gift 
of prophecy, and warned Agamemnon not to return to 
Mycenae. He was deaf to her admonitory voice, and was 
consequently, upon his arrival in the city, assassinated, 
with her and her two children, by his queen Clytemnestra, 
and her paramour ^Egisthus, who had usurped the throne 
in Agamemnon's absence. 

72. Thomas Moore. — Who was called the "Society 
Poet"? Ans. Thomas Moore. (See 55 in "Who?") 

Moore loved music and poetry, the world and the play- 
house, the large circle of society and the narrow precincts 
of home. The conversation of women had for him a 
great fascination ; he always preferred the natural, the 
simple, and the amiable woman to the learned, the bril- 
liant, and the wise. On his visits to London his time 

D* 



82 WHO? 



was passed in dinners and gay festivities, every hour that 
he could take from his publishers being filled with engage- 
ments of pleasure. In refusing an invitation of Lady 
Holland's to dine, Moore once sent her his list, to show 
that every breakfast and dinner was two lines deep, more 
than he ever could hope to fill. 

73. Hippocrates. — Who was the "Father of Medi- 
cine"? Aits. Hippocrates. 

Hippocrates was born in the island of Cos, 460 B.C. 
He improved himself in reading in the tablets of the 
temples the diseases and the means of recovery of indi- 
viduals. He was skillful, and devoted his whole time to 
medical applications and professional duties. Some say 
he delivered Athens from a dreadful plague. According 
to Galen, his opinions were respected as oracular. His 
memory is still venerated, and his writings, few of which 
remain, procured him the epithet of Divine. He died in 
the ninety-ninth year of his age, 361 B.C., free from all 
disorder of the mind and body, and after death received 
the highest honors. 

74. Menes. — Who was the first king of Egypt? Ans. 
Menes. 

Menes was the founder of the Egyptian monarchy, and 
was worshiped as a god after death. He appears to have 
been deservedly popular, by his abilities and wisdom. He 
built the town of Memphis, as is generally supposed. If 
he is the same as Mizraim mentioned in Scripture, as some 
assert, he was one of the sons of Ham. He is said to 
have reigned sixty-two years over Upper Egypt and thirty- 
five over Lower Egypt. 

75. Cecrops. — Who founded Athens ? Ans, Cecrops. 
Cecrops, a native of Egypt, is universally allowed to 

have founded Athens, 1556 B.C. At this time he arrived 
in Attica with a colony of his countrymen, and built 
twelve small villages or cities, of which Athens was one. 
He gave laws to the wild inhabitants, whom he divided 
into twelve tribes, and instituted marriage among them. 
The first altar in Greece was raised by Cecrops to Ju- 
piter. Athens from its founder first received the name 
of Cecropia, but was afterwards changed to Athenae, in 
honor of Minerva, its tutelary deity. The Arundelian 



WHO? 



83 



marbles, which were brought from Greece by the Earl of 
Arundel, and are now kept in England, begin their chro- 
nology with the founding of Athens, but place that event 
twenty-six years earlier, viz., 1582 B.C. Cecrops married 
the daughter of a Grecian prince, and reigned fifty years. 
He passed this period in regulating his newly-founded 
kingdom and in polishing the minds of his subjects. At 
his death he was succeeded by a native of the country, 
Cranaus. 

76. Thales. — Who was the founder of the Ionic Phi- 
losophy? Ans. Thales. 

Thales was born at Miletus, in Ionia. Like the rest 
of the ancients he traveled in quest of knowledge, and 
for some time resided in Crete, Phoenicia, and Egypt. 
Under the priests of Memphis he was taught geometry, 
astronomy, and philosophy, and enabled to measure with 
exactness the height and extent of a pyramid by its 
shadow. His discoveries in astronomy were great, and he 
was the first who calculated accurately a solar eclipse. 
Like Homer, he looked upon water as the principle of 
everything. In founding the Ionic sect of philosophy, 
which distinguished itself for deep and abstruse specula- 
tion, his name is memorable. He died in the ninety- 
sixth year of his age, about 584 B.C. His compositions 
are lost. 

77. Charles VI. of France. — Who was the mon- 
arch that had cards invented for his amusement? Ans. 
Charles VI. of France. 

Charles VI., styled the "Well-Beloved," succeeded to 
the throne in 1380. He first made war on the Flemings, 
whom he defeated in the battle of Rosebeck. A formid- 
able invasion, of which the object was the British shore, 
failed in consequence of a tempest that dispersed and 
wrecked his ships. During this reign a civil war oc- 
curred between the houses of Orleans and Burgundy, the 
cause of which pertained to the throne regency. Charles 
had fallen into a state of insanity, which of course ren- 
dered a regency necessary. In the midst of the conten- 
tion, and of the miseries which it inflicted on France, 
Henry V. of England invaded the country, and gained 
the memorable battle of Agincourt. The consequence 



84 WHO? 



of this victory, and other advantages gained by Henry, 
was the acknowledgment of his right to the French 
throne on the death of Charles. These sovereigns died 
soon after, and within two months of each other. Cards 
were invented to amuse Charles and relieve him from 
the melancholy which followed his alienation of mind. 

78. Arthur Henry Hallam. — Who was the subject 
of Tennyson's "In Memoriam" ? Ans. Arthur Henry 
Hallam. (See 17 in "Who?") 

79. Dido. — Who founded Carthage ? Ans. Dido. 
Dido, Queen of Carthage, was a daughter of Belus, 

King of Tyre, and married her uncle Sichaeus. Her hus- 
band having been murdered by Pygmalion, the successor 
of Belus, the disconsolate princess, with a number of 
Tyrians, set sail in quest of a settlement. A storm drove 
their fleet on the African coast, and there she founded, or 
enlarged, the city that became much celebrated in the 
annals of history. In the height of its splendor Carthage 
possessed a population of seven hundred thousand inhab- 
itants, and had under its dominion three hundred small 
cities, bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. " It was famous 
for its wealth and power, and from its connection with 
the Roman wars. The beauty of Dido, as well as the 
fame of her enterprise, gained her many admirers ; and 
her subjects wished to compel her to marry Iarbas, King 
of Mauritania, by whom they were threatened with war. 
Dido requested three months for consideration ; and 
during that time she erected a funeral pile, as if wishing 
by a solemn sacrifice to appease the manes of Sichaeus, 
to whom she had vowed eternal fidelity. When her prep- 
aration was completed, she stabbed herself on the pile, 
in presence of her people, and by this desperate feat ob- 
tained the name of Dido, valiant woman. Before this 
she was called Elissa. 

80. Apelles. — Who was the greatest painter prior to 
the birth of Christ? Ans. Apelles. 

Apelles was born in the island of Cos, and lived con- 
temporary with Alexander, who would allow no other to 
draw his picture. His Venus rising out of the sea was 
purchased by Augustus, and placed in a temple at Rome. 
The lower part had sustained some injury, which no artist 



WHO ? 85 



could repair. He also wrote some pieces, which were 
extant in the age of Pliny. One of his pictures of Alex^- 
ander exhibited the conqueror with a thunderbolt in his 
hand. The piece was finished with so much skill and 
dexterity, that it used to be said that there were two 
Alexanders : one invincible, the son of Philip ; the other 
inimitable, the production of Apelles. The date of his 
death does not appear. He flourished about 360 B.C. 
Apelles was a great favorite with Alexander, who was ac- 
customed to do the painter many acts of kindness. At 
one time he requested him to take the portrait of Cam- 
paspe, one of his concubines, and noted for her beauty. 
This Apelles did, but in drawing her face drew her into 
his heart, to regret it when it was too late. On the mon- 
arch's discovering this, with his usual generosity he gave 
her as a present to Apelles. His portrait of Alexander 
the Great was purchased for what would equal about two 
hundred and eleven thousand dollars of our money, and 
removed to the temple of Diana, at Ephesus. Apelles 
never allowed a day to pass, however much he might be 
occupied with other matters, without drawing one line at 
least in his art. When he had completed a picture he 
would expose it where the passer-by might view it, then 
hide himself where he could hear the remarks of the spec- 
tators, by which he would often profit. 

81. Romulus. — Who was the first king of Rome? 
Ans. Romulus. 

Romulus was a son of Rhea Silvia, and grandson of 
Numitor, King of Alba, and born at the same time with 
Remus. As the founder of Rome his name is immortal. 
He began the building of the city 752 B.C. His brother 
Remus was concerned in the projected undertaking, but 
a dispute arising between them where the city should 
stand, the brothers had recourse to arms. In this contest 
Remus lost his life. Romulus, only eighteen years old, was 
thus left to pursue the enterprise alone. On the Pala- 
tine Hill he fixed as the spot, and inclosing about a mile 
of territory in compass with a wall, he filled it with one 
thousand houses, or rather huts. To this collection he 
gave the name of Rome. He peopled it with the tumult- 
uous and vicious rabble which he found in the neighbor- 

8 



86 WHO? 



hood. At first it was nearly destitute of laws ; but it soon 
became a well-regulated community. The liberty of build- 
ing a city on those hills, where the two brothers had fed 
their flocks, was granted to them by Numitor, the king. 
He assigned to them a certain territory, and permitted 
such of his subjects as chose to resort thither in aid of 
the work. A division taking place as to the particular 
spot where the city should stand, Numitor advised them 
to watch the flight of birds, — a custom common in that 
age when any contested point was to be settled. They 
took their stations on different hills ; Remus saw six vul- 
tures, Romulus twice as many, so that each one thought 
himself victorious, — the one having the first omen, the 
other the more complete. A contest was the result, when 
Remus was killed by his brother. Jumping contemptu- 
ously over the city walls, it is stated that Romulus struck 
him dead on the spot, declaring that no one should insult 
his rising walls with impunity. After a reign of thirty- 
seven or thirty-nine years, Romulus was killed, as is sup- 
posed, by the senators. His virtues were those of a mili- 
tary chieftain and adventurer in a rude age. He is not 
undistinguished as a legislator, though his institutions had 
almost exclusively a warlike tendency. The Romans paid 
him divine honors, under the name of Quirinus, and 
ranked him among the twelve great gods. On the birth of 
Remus and Romulus, Amulius, their uncle, was so outraged 
that he ordered the mother Rhea Silvia to be buried alive, 
and the children to be thrown in the river Tiber. The 
mother was buried as he directed, the punishment of in- 
continent vestals, but the infants, though put in the Tiber, 
were saved, since the basket in which they were covered 
floated on the surface. It was borne to the foot of the 
Aventine Mount, and there stranded. According to some 
accounts a she-wolf suckled them, which is incredible. 
According to other accounts, the woman who preserved 
and nursed them was called Lupa, and as Lupa was the 
Latin word for she-wolf, this circumstance caused the 
mistake. The two brothers became shepherds, were fond 
of hunting wild beasts, and at length turned their arms 
against the robbers who infested the country. Having 
been informed of their high birth, they collected their 



WHO? 87 



friends, and fought against Amulius, their uncle, and 
killed him. Numitor, after an exile of forty-two years, 
was then called to the throne again, and was happy to 
owe his restoration to the bravery of his grandsons. 

82. Nicholas Copernicus. — Who discovered the 
true solar system of the universe? Ans. Copernicus. 

Nicholas Copernicus was a native of Thorn, in Prussia. 
In his twenty-second year he went to Italy in search of 
knowledge. After some years' absence, and in the mean 
time having acted as professor of mathematics at Rome, 
he returned home. Here he began to apply his vast 
knowledge to an examination of the different theories 
respecting the universe. The simplicity of the Pytha- 
gorean system pleased him best, and after twenty years of 
profound investigation he removed from the machine of 
the universe the cycles and epicycles of former astrono- 
mers, and placed the sun in the centre to illuminate and 
control the whole. This great discovery he kept con- 
cealed for more than thirty years, for fear of exciting 
against him the persecuting spirit of bigotry. When at 
last he consented, through the importunities of his friends, 
to have his work published, and a copy of it was brought 
to him, he was, a few hours afterwards, seized with a 
violent effusion of blood, which terminated his life, May 
24, 1543, in his seventieth year. 

83. Peter Corneille. — Who was prince of the French 
dramatic poets ? Ans. Corneille. 

Peter Corneille, whose poetical works are among the 
sublimest of the French muse, was born at Rouen in 1606. 
He was brought to the bar, but he soon abandoned it for 
poetry, which was far more congenial to his taste. He 
wrote a number of plays, the most celebrated of which was 
the " Cid," a tragedy, which drew against him the perse- 
cution and obloquy of rival wits and unsuccessful poets. 
He is said to have been a very meritorious man in private 
life, — liberal, humane, and devout, and rather inclined 
to melancholy. He died at the age of seventy-nine 
years. 

84. William Cowper. — Who was the "Bard of 
Olney"? Ans. Cowper. 

William Cowper was born in Great Berkhamstead, in 



WHO? 



Hertfordshire, England, November 15, 1731. His father 
was Dr. John Cowper, chaplain to George II. From infancy- 
he had a delicate and susceptible constitution, a misfortune 
that was aggravated by the loss of an affectionate mother, 
who died when he was only six years old. At the age of 
ten he was sent to Westminster School, where he remained 
till he was eighteen ; and though he pursued his studies 
diligently while there, he could never look back on those 
days without horror, as he remembered the despotic tyranny- 
exercised over him by the older boys, — a shameful prac- 
tice, still in a degree continued in the English schools. 
After leaving school, he spent three years in an attorney's 
office, and then entered the Middle Temple, in which he 
continued eleven years, devoting his time, however, more 
to poetry than to law. In 1761 the offices of clerk of the 
journals, reading clerk, and clerk of the committees of 
the House of Lords, which were all at the disposal of a 
cousin of Cowper's, became vacant at nearly the same 
time. The two last were conferred upon Cowper, but the 
idea of appearing and reading before the House of Lords 
so overwhelmed him that he resigned the offices almost 
as soon as they were accepted. Weakness, nervousness, 
and the most distressing diffidence unfitted him for public 
work of any kind. But as his patrimony was nearly 
spent, his friend procured for him the office of clerk of 
the journals, thinking that his personal appearance at the 
House would not be required. But he was unexpectedly 
summoned to an examination at the bar of the House be- 
fore he could be allowed to take the office. The thought 
of this so preyed upon his mind as to shatter his reason, 
and he actually made attempts upon his own life. He 
was therefore removed to the house of Dr. Cotton, at St. 
Alban's, with whom he continued about eighteen months. 
Few things are more touching than the history of Cowper's 
life, as it is related, with more than feminine grace, inno- 
cence, and tenderness, in his own inimitable letters, and 
we can understand the devotedness with which so many 
of his friends sacrificed their whole existence to cherish 
and console a being so gifted, so fascinating, and so un- 
happy. The dim shadow, too, of an early and enduring, 
but hopeless, love, throws over the picture a soft and pen- 



WHO? 89 



sive tint, like moonlight on some calm landscape. His 
insanity took one of the most terrible forms of that dis- 
ease, religious melancholy. In June, 1765, his brother 
took him to Huntingdon to board. Here he was intro- 
duced to the family of Rev. Mr. Unwin, who was the 
clergyman of the place. It consisted of the father, Mrs. 
Unwin, and a son and daughter just arrived at majority. 
Cowper says of them in one of his letters, " They are the 
most agreeable people imaginable, — quite sociable, and as 
free from the ceremonious civility of gentlefolks as any I 
ever met with. They treat me more like a near relation 
than a stranger, and their house is always open to me." 
Much to his joy, they agreed to receive him into their 
family as a boarder. He had been there, however, but 
two years when Mr. Unwin, senior, died, and Cowper 
accompanied Mrs. Unwin and her daughter to a new resi- 
dence, which they chose in Olney, in Buckinghamshire. 
Here he formed that intimate friendship with the Rev. 
Mr. Newton, of that place, which contributed greatly to 
increase his religious fanaticism. His intercourse with 
Mr. Unwin was peaceful, and tended much towards his 
recovery and happiness ; that with Mr. Newton appeared, 
on the contrary, to increase a morbid irritability, which 
ripened gradually into a iatal growth. In 1773, Cowper 
was visited by a second attack of mental derangement, 
which lasted about four years. During this period Mrs. 
Unwin watched over him with a tenderness truly maternal. 
As he began to recover he engaged in various amusements, 
such as taming hares and making bird-cages, which pas- 
times he diversified with light reading. Heretofore his 
poetic faculties had lain nearly dormant, but in the winter 
of 1780-81 he prepared the first volume of his poems for 
the press, consisting of " Table-Talk," " Hope," " The 
Progress of Error," etc., which was published in 1782 ; 
but it did not attract much attention till the appearance 
of the "Task." It is singular enough that Cowper's 
poetical genius was not exhibited till an unusually late 
hour; he was fifty years of age before he obtained any 
reputation as a writer. In the same year that he published 
his poems an elegant and accomplished visitant came to 
Olney, with whom Cowper formed an acquaintance that 

8* 



9 o 



WHO? 



was for some time a most delightful one to him. This 
was Lady Austen, the widow of Sir Robert Austen. She 
had wit, gayety, agreeable manners, and fine taste. While 
she enlivened Cowper's unequal spirits by her conversa- 
tion, she was also the task-mistress of his muse. He 
began his great original poem, "The Task," at her sug- 
gestion, and was exhorted by her to undertake the trans- 
lations of Homer. One day she requested him to try his 
powers on blank verse. "But," said he, "I have no 
subject." "Oh, you can write on anything," she re- 
plied; "take this sofa." Hence the beginning of the 
"Task,"— 

" I sing the sofa. 
The theme, though humble, yet august and proud 
The occasion — for the fair commands the song." 

" Lady Austen's conversation had as happy an effect upon 
the melancholy spirit of Cowper as the harp of David on 
Saul. Whenever the cloud seemed to be coming over him 
her sprightly powers were used to dispel it. One after- 
noon in October, 1782, when he appeared more than 
usually depressed, she told him the story of John Gilpin, 
which had been told her in her childhood, and which, in 
her relation, tickled his fancy as much as it has that of 
thousands and tens of thousands since, in his poem. The 
next morning he said to her that he had been kept awake 
the greater part of the night by thinking of the story and 
laughing at it, and that he had turned it into a ballad. 
The ballad was sent to Mr. Unwin, who said in reply that 
it made him laugh tears." So much cheerfulness seems 
to have beamed upon him from the influence of her 
society, that he gave her the endearing appellation of 
Sister Anne. But his devoted old friend Mrs. Unwin 
looked with no little jealousy upon the ascendency of a 
female so much more fascinating than herself over Cow- 
per's mind; and, appealing to his gratitude for her past 
services, she gave him his choice of renouncing either 
Lady Austen's friendship or her own. Cowper decided 
upon adhering to the friend who had watched over him 
in his deepest afflictions, and sent Lady Austen a farewell 
letter, couched in terms of regret and regard, but which 
necessarily put an end to their acquaintance. Whether 



WHO? 91 



in making this decision he sacrificed a passion or only 
friendship for Lady Austen it is now impossible to tell; 
but it is said that the remembrance of a deep and devoted 
attachment of his youth was never effaced by any suc- 
ceeding impressions of the same nature, and that his 
fondness for Lady Austen was as platonic as for Mary 
Unwin. The sacrifice, however, cost him much pain, 
and is perhaps as much to be admired as regretted. In 
1784 appeared his " Task," and in the same year he com- 
menced his translation of Homer, which was finished in 
1791, and which is one of the best translations of Homer 
that we possess. In the mean time the loss of Lady 
Austen was made up, in a degree, by his cousin Lady 
Hesketh, who, two years after the publication of "The 
Task," paid him a visit at Olney, and settling at Weston 
Hall, in the immediate* neighborhood, provided a com- 
fortable abode for him and Mrs. Unwin there, to which 
they removed in 1786. It was here that he executed his 
translation of Homer. In 1792 the poet Hayley, after- 
wards his biographer, made him a visit at Weston, having 
corresponded with him previously. While Hayley was 
with him Mrs. Unwin had a severe stroke of paralysis, 
which rendered her helpless the remainder of her life. 
To this most excellent woman, to whom we are indebted, 
perhaps, as the instrument of preserving Cowper's reason, 
and it may be his life, he addressed one of the most touch- 
ing, and probably one of the best known, of his poems, 
— " To Mary." Mr. Hayley says he believes it to be the 
last original piece he produced at Weston, and that he 
doubts whether any language on earth can exhibit a speci- 
men of verse more exquisitely tender. In 1794, Cow- 
per's unhappy malady returned upon him with increased 
violence, and Lady Hesketh, with most commendable 
zeal and disinterestedness, devoted herself to the care of 
the two invalids. Mr. Hayley found him on a third visit 
plunged into a sort of melancholy torpor, so that when it 
was announced to him that his Majesty George III. had 
bestowed upon him a pension of three hundred pounds a 
year, he seemed to take no notice of it. The next year 
it was thought best for both Cowper and Mrs. Unwin 
that their location should be changed, and they were 



9 2 



WHO? 



accordingly removed to the house of his kinsman, .Mr. 
Johnson, at North Tnddenham, in Norfolk. The removal, 
however, had no good effect upon either, and the next 
year Mrs. Unwin died. Covvper could not believe she 
was dead when the event was broken to him. and desired 
to see her. Mr. Johnson accompanied him to the room 
where the last remains of his old friend reposed. He 
looked upon her for a few moments, then started away 
with a vehement, unfinished exclamation of anguish, and 
never afterwards uttered her name. In the year 1799 some 
power of exertion returned to him ; he completed the 
revisal of Homer, and wrote the last original piece that 
he ever composed, — "The Castaway." His own end 
was now drawing near, and on the 15th of April, i860, 
he drew his last breath. 

85. Champollion. — Who was the first reader of hiero- 
glyphics? Ans. Champollion. 

The total number of Egyptian hieroglyphics discovered 
by him amounts to eight hundred and sixty-four; and of 
these one hundred and thirty only are phonetic, notwith- 
standing that this kind of character is used far more fre- 
quently than both the others. A brief inscription has 
furnished a clue to the vast labyrinth of Egyptian hiero- 
glyphics. Jean Francois Champollion, a French Egyptolo- 
gist, as he is called, was born at Figeac, December 23, 1 791, 
and died in Paris on the 4th of March, 1832. He studied 
so diligently under the direction of his brother, a learned 
Greek professor, that he permanently injured his left eye. 
His introduction to a new geographical work on Egypt, 
in 1807, increased the reputation which previous scientific 
disquisitions had established for him among the eminent 
Orientalists of Paris, under whose guidance he perfected 
his acquirements. He commenced his studies of hiero- 
glyphics in 1808, discovered the twenty-five Egyptian let- 
ters mentioned by Plutarch, and used them so skillfully in 
transcribing Coptic writings, that a member of the Academy 
published them as an Egyptian work of the Antoninian 
period. In 1809 he became professor of the newly-estab- 
lished university of Grenoble, when he began to announce 
and partly publish the results of his researches, which 
made him celebrated as the founder of Egyptology, and 



WHO ? 



93 



especially of the science of hieroglyphics. The political 
events of 1815 led him to retire from his chair for three 
years, when he resumed for a time his lectures on history 
and geography. In 1822 he read before the Academy of 
Inscriptions his celebrated disquisition, afterwards pub- 
lished under the title of " Lettre a M. Dacier," which 
proved his discovery of the hieroglyphical alphabet; both 
Arago and De Sacy deciding in favor of Champollion's 
priority of discovery against that of Thomas Young, whose 
English partisans have claimed this honor for him. His 
subsequent exposition of the figurative, idiographical, and 
alphabetical systems of hieroglyphics was published in 
1824, by the French government, under the title of 
"Precis du Systeme hieroglyphique des anciens Egyp- 
tiens." In the same year, after examining the collection 
of the French consul at Turin, subsequently acquired by 
the King of Sardinia, he announced the discovery of the 
celebrated royal or chronological papyrus. He next 
visited Rome and Leghorn, and his report, made at the 
instance of the Duke de Blacas, on the Egyptological 
collection of Henry Salt, the English consul at Leghorn, 
led to its acquisition by the Museum of Paris. He re- 
turned to Rome, where he described the Turin collection 
in his " Lettres a Monsieur le Due de Blacas," and suc- 
cessfully applying his system to the interpretation of the 
monuments at Naples and Florence, he prepared the cata- 
logues of the royal collection. Pope Leo XII. requested 
him to prepare a new work relating to the obelisks of 
Rome, but of this only the designs were published, ihe 
Latin work on this subject, which appeared in 1842, being 
spurious. Soon after the establishment of the Egyptian 
Museum at the Louvre, he became, in 1826, its director 
and lecturer, and his classification was adopted by other 
museums of the kind. Charles X. gave him the entry to 
his court by appointing him officer of the royal household, 
placed a frigate, with seven draughtsmen and an architect, 
at his disposal for the exploration of Egypt and Nubia, 
in 1827-30; and in 1 831, after the accession of Louis 
Philippe, the chair of Egyptian archaeology was created for 
him at the College de France. He retired to a country-seat 
to compose his " Grammaire egyptienne," which became 



94 



WHO ? 



a standard work for that science, and his "Dictionnaire 
egyptien." The letters to his brother during his Egyp- 
tian journey were published in 1835. After an attack of 
apoplexy, at the close of 1831, he foresaw his speedy end, 
and employing January and February, 1832, in revising 
his "Egyptian Grammar," he handed the work to his 
brother, saying that he hoped posterity would accept it as 
his visiting-card. 

86. Joaquin Miller. — Who is the "Poet of the 
Sierras"? Ans. Joaquin Miller. 

Miller's real name is Cincinnatus Heme Miller, and he 
was born in Indiana, November 10, 1841. When he was 
about eleven years old his father emigrated to Lane 
County, Oregon,. whence the boy went three years later 
to try his fortunes in California. At this early age he 
wrote verses, though he knew nothing of the laws of versi- 
fication nor of the rules of grammar. After a wandering 
life of several years, he returned to Oregon in i860, and 
entered a lawyer's office in Eugene. The next year he 
was an express messenger in the gold-mining districts of 
Idaho, which he left to take charge of the "Democratic 
Register," a weekly newspaper in Eugene. This was sup- 
pressed for its political sentiments during the war, and in 
1863 he opened a law-office in Canon City, Oregon. From 
1866 to 1870 he served as county judge of Grant County, 
and during this time began to write his poems. He pub- 
lished first a collection in paper covers called "Speci- 
mens," and next a volume with the title " Joaquin et al.," 
from which he derived his pseudonym. In 1870 his 
wife, Minnie Theresa Dyer, whom he had married in 1863, 
obtained a divorce, and he went to London, where he pub- 
lished in the following year his "Songs of the Sierras." 
In 1872 appeared "Songs of the Sun Lands," and in 1873 
a prose volume, entitled "Life among the Modocs : Un- 
written History." In 1875 ne tried his hand at novel- 
writing, and published "The Pink Countess." His wife 
has published verses under the name of "Minnie Myrtle." 
Miller's poems are distinguished for vigor, fire, and intel- 
lect, combined with a savage inspiration peculiar to him- 
self. He is said to be exceedingly uncultivated in manners 
and conversation. 



WHO ? 



95 



87. William Caxton. — Who introduced printing 
into England? Am. William Caxton. 

The name of William Caxton will ever be held in grate- 
ful remembrance by the world of letters, for he it was who 
introduced the art of printing into England. He was 
born in the county of Kent, in the year 1413, and at the 
age of fifteen was put as an apprentice to a London mer- 
chant. In consideration of his integrity and good be- 
havior, his master bequeathed him a small sum of money 
as a capital with which to begin trade. He was soon 
chosen by the Mercers' Company to be their agent in 
Holland and Flanders, in which countries he was absent 
about twenty-three years. While there the new invention 
of the art of printing was everywhere spoken of; and 
Caxton at great expense of time and labor, and with an 
industry to which all obstacles will ever give way, made 
himself complete master of the art as then known. He 
first employed himself in translating from French into 
English "The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye," 
which was published in Cologne in 147 1, and is the first 
book ever printed in the English language. The next 
year Caxton returned into England, and in 1474 put forth 
" The Game of Chess," remarkable as being the first book 
ever printed in England. It was entitled "The Game 
and Playe of the Chesse ; Translated out of the French, 
and imprynted by William Caxton, Fynyshed the last day 
of Marche, the yer of our Lord God, a thousand foure 
hundred, lxxiiij." When the English Princess Margaret 
of York married Charles of Burgundy, she took Caxton 
into her household, and while in her service he translated 
" The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye." Caxton was 
a man who united great modesty and simplicity of charac- 
ter to indefatigable industry. He styled himself "simple 
William Caxton." He died in 1491. 

88. Who were the most prominent characters during 
the reign of Henry VIII.? Am. Sir Thomas More, 
Archbishop Cranmer, and Cardinal Wolsey. 

1. Sir Thomas More was born in London in 1480. 
When a boy he was in the family of the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, who used to say of him to his guests, "This 
boy who waits at my table, who lives to see it, will prove 



96 WHO. 



a marvelous man." He entered the University of Ox- 
ford at the age of seventeen, and at the age of twenty-two 
was elected member of Parliament. In 1516 he was sent 
to Flanders on an important mission, and on his return 
the king conferred on him the honor of knighthood, and 
appointed him one of his privy council. In 1529, on the 
disgrace of Cardinal Wolsey, he was appointed lord 
chancellor, being the first layman who ever held the 
office. Henry VIII. doubtless raised More to this high 
position that he might aid him in obtaining a divorce from 
his wife, Catherine of Aragon, thus enabling him to marry 
Anne Boleyn. But More was sincerely attached to the 
Roman church, and looked with horror upon anything 
that was denounced by the supreme head of the church, as 
the king's divorce was by the Pope. He therefore begged 
the wicked king to excuse him from giving an opinion. 
But the tyrant was relentless, and the result was, that 
when the Act of Supremacy was passed by Parliament, 
1534, declaring Henry VIII. to be the supreme head of 
the church, More refused to take the oath required of him, 
and he died on the scaffold, a martyr to his adhesion to 
the papal church and the supremacy of the Pope, on the 
5th of July, 1535. More was a man of true genius, a great 
wit, and his mind was enriched with all the learning of his 
time. No one had a greater influence over his contem- 
poraries. He held continued correspondence with the 
learned men of Europe. The great Erasmus went to Eng- 
land on purpose to enjoy the pleasure of his conversation. 
It is said that their meeting was first at the lord mayor's 
table, at that time always open to men of learning and 
eminence, but they were unknown to each other. At 
dinner, some disputes arising on theological points, Eras- 
mus expressed himself with great severity of the clergy, 
and ridiculed with considerable acrimony the doctrine of 
transubstantiation. More rejoined with all his strength 
of argument and keenness of wit. Erasmus thus assailed, 
exclaimed, with some vehemence, "You are either More 
or no one." To which More with great readiness re- 
plied, "Either you are Erasmus or the devil." More 
was of a very cheerful, or rather mirthful, disposition, 
which did not forsake him even to the last, for he jested 



WHO? 



97 



when about to lay his head upon the block. " Though he 
was a witty companion, he was a stern fanatic; though 
playful and affectionate in his own household, he ruled it 
with a rod of iron over God's heritage ; though an en- 
lightened statesman, ably arguing in his study against san- 
guinary laws, from his chair of office he spared no pains 
to carry the most sanguinary into execution ; and though 
ranked as a philosopher, he every Friday scourged his own 
body with whips of knotted cords, and by way of further 
penance wore a hair shirt next to his lacerated body." Sir 
Thomas was twice married. His first wife was a daughter 
of a country gentleman of high standing, Mr. John Colt, 
who offered to More the choice of either of his daughters. 
He was more pleased with the second, and was about to 
bring things to a close, when thinking how much it would 
grieve the elder sister to see the younger preferred before 
her, he at once addressed the elder, and married her out 
of pure benevolence. He was well rewarded for his kind- 
ness. She proved an excellent wife, sympathizing with 
him in all his labors and duties ; but she died after hav- 
ing been married only six years, leaving two daughters 
and a son. The son was witless; the daughters were 
Cecilia and Margaret. The latter was the more beloved, 
the more amiable, and the more learned of Sir Thomas's 
daughters. She visited him in the Tower, and encouraged 
him to remain true to his convictions, while her step- 
mother urged him to abjure his faith. Margaret Roper 
intercepted her father on his return to the Tower after his 
trial, and, penetrating the circle of the guards, hung on 
his neck and bade him farewell. There is a tradition 
that she caused her father's head to be stolen from the 
spike of the bridge on which it was exposed, and, getting 
it preserved, kept it in a casket. She and her husband, 
William Roper, wrote together the biography of her father, 
Sir Thomas More. For his second wife, More married a 
widow, Mrs. Alice Middleion, of a very different character 
from his first wife. He had not the least intention of 
marrying her, but was addressing her in behalf of a friend, 
when she very plainly answered him that "he might speed 
the better if he would speak in his own behalf." He lived 
very uncomfortably with her. One of his biographers says, 
e 9 



9 8 



WHO? 



" Any heart but More's would have been broken by this 
match, for she was one of the most loquacious, ignorant, 
and narrow-minded of women ; but, like another Socra- 
tes, More endeavored to laugh away his conjugal miseries." 
In 1526 or 1527, Hans Holbein, the painter, who after- 
wards made the famous picture of the " More family," 
came to England, and repaired to Chelsea, to the house 
of Sir Thomas More, to whom he brought a letter of in- 
troduction from Erasmus, and, what was still better, a 
present of a portrait of Erasmus, painted by Hans Hol- 
bein. More introduced Holbein to Henry VIII., and he 
was immediately taken into favor by the king and received 
into his service, with a lodging in the palace, and a 
general salary of thirty pounds a year, besides separate 
payment for his paintings. Sir Thomas More's most 
celebrated work is " Utopia." 

2. Archbishop Cranmer alone, of all Henry VIII. 's 
ministers, continued in that monarch's fitful favor, a 
favorite to the last. How his neck escaped the block that 
was "King Hal's" trysting-place is a mystery known 
only to himself, for people generally paid dear for any 
civilities that they received from Henry VIII. When the 
young Edward VI. came to the throne, Cranmer threw 
all his zeal into the cause of the Reformation, which made 
great progress under his guidance. But, alas for him ! 
after the death of Edward and the accession of " bloody 
Mary," the tables turned and the Romanists again had 
their sway. Archbishop Cranmer, together with Hooper, 
Ridley, Latimer, and others, this cruel queen had com- 
mitted to the flames, because they dared to differ from 
her in regard to creeds in the Christian religion. 

3. Cardinal Wolsey was the son of a butcher at 
Ipswich, but his father having spared no expense in his 
education, which the son had faithfully improved, he was 
finally taken into the service of Henry VIII., and by 
degrees rose into power, till he became the prime minister 
of his sovereign. Notwithstanding his sacred office he 
never opposed the king in his gayeties, even when they 
were detrimental to the happiness of others, but smiled 
over and encouraged his sensuality. It was by thus flat- 
tering and pampering to his taste that Wolsey acquired that 



WHO ? 99 



influence which he had for years over the king. When 
Henry wished to divorce his queen, Catherine of Ara- 
gon, and marry Anne Boleyn for her youth and beauty, 
the Pope denied him the right of a divorce. Henry ap- 
pealed to the cardinal, who dare not decide against the 
Pope ; and soon he was deprived of his immense power 
and possessions, as the king thought he stood in the way 
of his wishes. VVolsey was arrested for high treason, and 
probably would have shared the fate of Sir Thomas More 
and others had he not died of a broken heart soon after 
his arrest. During his last moments he cried out, with 
great anguish of soul, words that have left their strength 
behind them, "Had I but served God as diligently as I 
have served the king, he would not have forsaken me in 
my gray hairs." 

89. Samuel Butler. — Who wrote "Hudibras"? Ans. 
Samuel Butler. 

Samuel Butler was born at Strensham, in Worcester- 
shire, in 161 2. It cannot be learned whether he enjoyed 
a university education or not, but his writings show that 
his scholarship, however acquired, was both varied and 
profound. In early life he was employed as a clerk to 
the county magistrate of Worcestershire, where he enjoyed 
ample leisure for reading and meditation ; afterwards, he 
entered the household of the Countess of Kent, where he 
had the use of an excellent library, which he did not fail 
to improve. While under her patronage he enjoyed the 
acquaintance and conversation of the wise and kind- 
hearted Selden. Samuel Butler was the author of the 
best burlesque poem in the language, for so his " Hudi- 
bras" ranks. It is supposed that while he was in the 
employment of Sir Samuel Luke, one of Cromwell's offi- 
cers, he first conceived the idea of his satirical epic 
upon them. While in this household he saw much of the 
unfavorable side of the Puritan character. The first part 
of the poem was published three years after the Restora- 
tion, and though it was the delight of the court, and 
quoted everywhere and in all circles, the poet reaped no- 
thing but empty praise. In 1664, when the second part 
appeared, King Charles presented him with three hundred 
pounds, promising to do more for him ; this promise, 



ioo WHO 



however, was never fulfilled. It was not till 1678 that 
the third part appeared, and in 1680 the great wit died, 
in a wretched lodging in Covent Garden, then the most 
miserable and squalid quarter of London. He was even 
indebted to the charity of a friend for a grave in a church- 
yard, after a place in Westminster Abbey had been re- 
fused. His poverty was such that he did not possess 
sufficient property to pay his funeral expenses. It was 
not till some time after his death that this comic genius 
received the honor of a monument, which was erected, 
with a laudatory inscription, at the cost of an admirer. 
This tardy recognition of Butler's merit gave rise to one 
of the acutest epigrams in the English language, — 

" Whilst Butler, needy wretch, was yet alive, 
No generous patron would a dinner give : 
See him, when starved to death and turn'd to dust, 
Presented with a monumental bust. 
The poet's fate is here in emblem shown : 
He asked for bread, and he received a stone." 

90. Samuel Johnson. — Who wrote "The Rambler"? 
Ans. Samuel Johnson. 

Samuel Johnson was born at Lichfield, in Staffordshire, 
September 18, 1709, and was educated at Pembroke Col- 
lege, Oxford. He gave early proofs of a vigorous under- 
standing, and of a great fondness for knowledge ; but 
poverty compelled him to leave the university, after 
being there three years, without taking a degree, and he 
returned to Lichfield in the autumn of 1731, destitute, 
and wholly undetermined what plan of life to pursue. 
His father, who had been a bookseller, and who had be- 
come insolvent, died in December ; and in the following 
July Johnson accepted the situation of usher in the gram- 
mar-school at Market-Bosworth, in Leicestershire. For 
this situation he soon found himself utterly disqualified 
by means of his natural disposition. Though his scholar- 
ship was ample he wanted patience, and his coarse, gruff 
manners were ill suited either to win the love or respect 
of those under him. He was slovenly in dress, often 
going into the school with his face unwashed, coat torn, 
and hair uncombed. Having few scholars, he quitted the 
vocation in disgust. His scholars doubtless were quite 



WHO? ioi 



as glad to get rid of him as he of them. The next year 
he obtained temporary employment from a bookseller at 
Birmingham, and soon after entered into an engagement 
with Mr. Cave, the editor of "The Gentleman's Maga- 
zine," to write for that periodical. This, however, was 
not sufficient to support him, but fortunately he fell in 
love with a widow, a Mrs. Porter, who possessed a snug 
little fortune of eight hundred pounds. She was old 
enough, too, to take care of him, being double Johnson's 
age. They were married on the 9th of July, 1736, and 
soon after Johnson took a large house near Lichfield, and 
opened an academy for classical education. His urbanity 
could not have increased, for this second attempt at teach- 
ing failed, and he went to London, and engaged himself 
as a regular contributor to " The Gentleman's Magazine." 
Here he shortly produced his admirable poem "Lon- 
don," in imitation of the third satire of Juvenal, for which 
he received from Dodsley ten guineas ; it immediately 
attracted great attention. His pen at this time was 
constantly employed writing pamphlets, poems, essays, 
prefaces, epitaphs, and biographical memoirs for the 
magazine ; but notwithstanding his untiring industry his 
pay was so small that at this period this great author often 
passed the day without food. In 1744 he published "The 
Life of Richard Savage," one of the best written and 
most instructive pieces of biography extant. In 1747 he 
issued his plan for his "English Dictionary," addressed 
in an admirably-written pamphlet to the Earl of Chester- 
field, who, however, concerned himself very little about its 
success. In 1755 appeared this great work that he had 
long promised the public, and which has made his name 
almost a household word. Eight long years he was hard 
at work on his " Dictionary," bringing it to completion. 
In 1750, Johnson began his periodical paper, "The Ram- 
bler," which deservedly raised the reputation of the 
author to a high standard, and from the peculiar strength 
of its style exerted a powerful influence on English prose 
literature. This was written at odd hours from time 
spared from his "Dictionary." In 1759 he came on the 
stage of action in a new light, that of novelist, when he 
published, in November, "Rasselas," which was written 



102 WHO? 



in the evenings of one week, and for the purpose of de- 
fraying the expenses of his mother's funeral. In 1762 he 
was relieved from pecuniary embarrassments by a pension 
of three hundred pounds a year, granted him expressly 
for the happy influence of his writings. In 1763 he was 
introduced to his biographer, James Boswell, and we have 
from this date a fuller account of him than was perhaps' 
ever given of any other individual. Boswell tells us in 
eight volumes what Johnson thought, said, did, did not 
do ; how he acted, what he ate, how he slept, what books 
and people he liked, and those he detested, until one 
feels, after having perused the volumes, that it might have 
been better for Johnson had his friend Boswell never been 
born. In 1773, in company with the ubiquitous Boswell, 
Johnson made the tour of the Western Islands of Scot- 
land, of which he published an instructive and interesting 
account. In it he pronounces decidedly against the au- 
thenticity of the poems of " Ossian. ' ' The last of his lit- 
erary labors was his "Lives of the British Poets," which 
were completed in 178 1. In June of 1773 Johnson had a 
paralytic stroke, which for some hours deprived him of 
the powers of speech. From this, however, he recovered, 
but towards the end of the year he was seized with a vio- 
lent fit of asthma, accompanied with dropsical swellings 
of the legs. These affections subsided by the beginning 
of the next year, but towards the autumn they so increased 
that all hopes of his recovery were at an end. He had 
always entertained a great dread of death, and his hours 
of health were often imbittered by his dread of dissolu- 
tion. But when he saw his end actually approaching, he 
became entirely resigned, strong in his faith in Christ, 
joyful in the hope of his own salvation, and anxious for 
the salvation of his friends. On the evening of the 13th 
of December, 1784, and in the seventy-fifth year of his 
age, he expired, so calmly that the persons who were 
sitting in the room only knew that he had ceased to 
breathe by the sudden failure of the sound which had for 
some days accompanied his respiration. The great char- 
acteristics of Dr. Johnson were uncommon vigor and 
logical precision of intellect. His reasoning was sound, 
dexterous, and acute; his thoughts striking and original; 



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103 



his imagination vivid. Besides his great qualities he pos- 
sessed others of most humiliating littleness. In many- 
respects he seemed a different person at different times. 
He was intolerant of particular principles, which he would 
not allow to be discussed in his hearing, of particular na- 
tions, and particular individuals. He was superstitious, 
open to flattery, hard to please, easy to offend, impetuous, 
and irritable. Baretti called him a bear, but Goldsmith, 
with his usual mildness, said, "No man alive has a ten- 
derer heart. There is nothing of the bear but his skin." 
(See 31 in "What?") 

91. Brains. — Who have the largest brains on record? 
Ans. Sir Walter Scott, George L. Cuvier, Napoleon, and 
Daniel Webster. 

The exact weight of Scott's brain is nowhere men- 
tioned ; we only find references to it as being unusually 
large. His head testifies that. Cuvier's weighed between 
fifty-nine and sixty ounces ; Napoleon's and Webster's an 
ounce or two less than Cuvier's. There is no fixed rela- 
tion between the size of the body and of the brain ; a small 
man may have a large brain, and vice versa. Men of 
great intellectual power have generally, if not always, pos- 
sessed large brains. The quality of the brain, however, is 
quite as important as the quantity, so that a large brain 
does not necessarily constitute a great man. According 
to Tiedemann, the female brain, though absolutely smaller 
than that of the male, is larger when compared to the 
size of the body. The brain reaches its highest develop- 
ment anatomically at twenty-one years, which it main- 
tains until sixty, after which, in most persons, it begins 
to decrease in size, with a corresponding decline in the 
mental powers. The average weight of the adult male 
brain is fifty ounces ; that of the adult female about forty- 
five ounces. There are twelve pairs of nerves belonging 
strictly to the brain, which differ from spinal nerves only 
in their distribution, and in coming through openings in 
the skull instead of between the vertebrae. All except the 
first proceed from the spinal cord itself, or from its pro- 
longation in the brain. These twelve nerves are the nerve 
of smell ; of vision ; motor nerves of the muscles of the 
orbit ; pathetici ; general sensory nerve of head and face; 



io4 



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motor nerve of face ; nerve of hearing ; nerve that presides 
over movements of swallowing ; motor nerve of tongue, 
etc. 

92. Isabel de Saavedra. — Who is Isabel de Saavedra? 
A?is. A nun, and only daughter of Cervantes. (See 64 
in "Who?") 

93. Sir Philip Francis. — Who wrote the "Letters 
of Junius" ? Ans. Sir Philip Francis. 

Sir Philip Francis lived in the reign of George III. of 
England, and is now pretty clearly proved to be the author 
of the celebrated "Letters of Junius." A war of unex- 
ampled extent, and embracing a vast variety of interests, 
was then waging, the "Seven Years' War," extending 
from the year 1756 to 1763, between Prussia and Austria, 
in which Great Britain, as well as many of the other Eu- 
ropean powers, unhappily became entangled. It was this 
war, and the despotic measures of George after he came 
to the throne, that gave rise to these "Letters," noted 
for their powers of sarcasm. They were published in the 
" Public Advertiser," of London, a paper printed by Mr. 
Wood fall; one of the highest respectability, and which 
had the largest circulation of any paper in the kingdom. 
Woodfallwas afterwards tried for these "libelous publica- 
tions" before Lord Mansfield, and though his lordship 
did all he could that he might be convicted, the jury ac- 
quitted him, and thus established on an immovable foun- 
dation the freedom of the press ! The first of these letters 
was dated January 21, 1769, and the last, January 21, 
1772. No sooner did they appear than they attracted 
universal attention. The author, whoever he was, was at 
once pronounced "no common man." To a minute, 
exact, as well as comprehensive knowledge of public affairs, 
he added a moral courage and dignity, a fearlessness in 
exposing the corruptions and the blunders of the govern- 
ment, a just and manly sense of the rights and interests 
of the people, and a scholarship that showed itself in 
a style of such unrivaled clearness, grace, and elegance, 
united to a condensation, energy, precision, and strength, 
that at once commanded the attention and admiration of 
the nation. Even his adversaries, at the very moment 
when his satire and invective were producing their most 



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io5 



powerful effect, never failed to compliment him on the 
classical correctness, the Attic wit, the figurative beauty 
and manly power of his language. There is not only no 
superfluous sentence, but there are no superfluous words in 
any of his sentences. He seems to have aimed at this 
quality with the greatest care, as best suited to the style 
and character of his mode of thinking and best accom- 
modated to the high attitude which he assumed, as the 
satirist and judge, not of ordinary men or common au- 
thors, but of the most elevated and distinguished person- 
ages and institutions of his country; of a person who 
seemed to feel himself called on to treat majesty itself 
with perfect freedom ; and before whom the supreme wis- 
dom and might of the great councils of the state stood 
rebuked and in fear. It was not till after the death of Sir 
Philip Francis that he became known as the father of 
these learned epistles. It is said that Sir Philip Francis 
on his wedding-day presented his bride with an edition of 
the " Letters of Junius," with the request that she should 
never speak of the book nor let it be seen. After his 
death, a parcel was found in his drawer, sealed up, con- 
taining a book, and directed to his wife. It was Junius 
Identified. Lady Francis always firmly believed that he 
wrote them. 

94. Francis Scott Key. — Who wrote the " Star- 
Spangled Banner" ? Ans. F. S. Key. 

Francis Scott Key, the son of an officer in the army of 
the Revolution, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, 
August 1, 1779. He studied law, and in 1801 estab- 
lished himself in his profession in Fredericktown ; but 
after a few years he removed to Washington, D. C, and 
became district attorney for the city, where he lived till 
his death, January 11, 1843. A. small volume of Mr. 
Key's poems was published, with an introductory letter 
by Chief- Justice Taney, in 1857. Besides the stirring 
national song by which he is chiefly known, it contains 
many pieces of very great beauty. The history of the 
" Star-Spangled Banner" is the following. In 1814, when 
the British fleet was at the mouth of the Potomac River, 
and intended to attack Baltimore, Mr. Key and Mr. 
Skinner were sent in a vessel with a flag of truce to obtain 



io6 WHO? 



the release of some, prisoners the English had taken in 
their expedition against Washington. They did not suc- 
ceed, and were told that they would be detained till after 
the attack on Baltimore. Accordingly they went in their 
own vessel, strongly guarded by the British fleet, as it 
sailed up the Potomac ; and when they came within sight 
of Fort McHenry, a short distance below the city, they 
could see the American flag distinctly flying on the ram- 
parts. As the day closed in, the bombardment of the fort 
commenced, and Mr. Key and Mr. Skinner remained on 
deck all night, watching with anxiety every shell that was 
fired. While the bombardment continued it was sufficient 
proof that the fort had not surrendered. It suddenly 
ceased some time before day; but as they had no com- 
munication with the enemy's ships, they did not know 
whether the fort had surrendered or the attack upon it 
had been abandoned. They paced the deck the rest of 
the night in painful suspense, watching with the greatest 
anxiety the return of day. At length the light came, and 
they saw " That our flag was still there," and soon they 
were informed that the attack had failed. In the fervor 
of the moment, at five o'clock in the morning, Mr. Key 
took an old letter from his pocket, and on its back wrote 
the most of this celebrated song, finishing it as soon as he 
reached Baltimore. He showed it to his friend Judge 
Nicholson, who was so pleased with it that he placed it at 
once in the hands of the printer, and in an hour after it 
was distributed all over the city, and hailed with enthu- 
siasm, and took its place from that moment as a national 
song. 

95. Tullia. — Who was the woman that married the 
murderer of her husband and father? Ans. Tullia. 

Tullia was the daughter of the Roman king Servius Tul- 
lius, who governed with political wisdom about 500 B.C. 
Servius married his two daughters to the two sons of 
Tarquin, and having thus established a good government, 
was preparing to quit the throne and live in peace and 
retirement. But these intentions he was not able to carry 
out. Tullia, one of his daughters, preferred her sister's 
husband to her own, and he was disposed to reciprocate 
the attachment. To answer their base purposes they both 



WHO? 



107 



killed their respective partners. As one wickedness too 
surely paves the way for another, these wretches next 
plotted the death of the good Servius. It will be read 
with horror that not only did the cruel Tullia rejoice 
when she heard that Tarquinius had murdered her father, 
but that when she rode forth in her chariot to congratu- 
late the base doer of the deed, she would not permit her 
coachman to indulge even his humanity, who, seeing the 
bleeding body of Servius lying in the street, was about to 
turn down another road, thinking very rationally that his 
mistress would be shocked to behold the mangled corpse 
of her father. Tullia had expelled from her heart all 
natural feeling, and, perceiving the hesitation of the 
coachman, angrily bade him drive on. He did so, and 
the chariot-wheels of the daughter's car were stained with 
the blood of her gray-haired father. 

96. Joseph Hopkinson. — Who wrote " Hail Colum- 
bia" ? Ans. Joseph Hopkinson. 

Joseph Hopkinson was the son of Francis Hopkinson, 
who was one of the patriots of the Revolution, a signer 
of the Declaration of Independence, and eminent as a 
judge on the bench, distinguished as a wit, and for his 
general attainments. Joseph was born in Philadelphia in 
1770, studied law, and became noted for his profound and 
various learning and as an advocate of singular eloquence 
and ability. He served some time as a representative in 
Congress, and was a member of the convention which 
remodeled the Constitution of Pennsylvania. In 1828 
he was appointed district judge of the Court of the United 
States for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, which 
office he filled with great integrity and ability, united to 
singular urbanity and kindness of manner, and retained 
it till his death, which occurred on the 15th of January, 
1842. At the time of his death he was vice-president of 
the American Philosophical Society, and president of the 
Academy of Fine Arts. As a writer he is chiefly known as 
the author of "Hail Columbia/' written in the summer 
of 1798. 

97. Roger Bacon. — Who invented gunpowder? 
Ans. Roger Bacon. 

Roger Bacon was born in 12 14, near Ilchester, of a 



io8 WHOt 



respectable family, and became a monk of the Francis- 
can order. A strong, inquisitive mind soon raised him 
to consequence, and as he was liberally supported in his 
pursuits by his friends, he made a most rapid advance- 
ment in science and philosophy. His attainments pass- 
ing beyond the comprehension of his age, he was accused 
of magic. The monks of his order, actuated by jealousy 
and envy, contrived to have his works rejected from their 
library and to prevent him from reading lectures to the 
students. He was finally imprisoned, and during ten 
years was left to pursue his studies in solitary confinement. 
Within this period he composed his " Opus Majus" or his 
" Greater Work." After being released from prison by 
his friends' interference, he passed the rest of his life in 
academical repose at Oxford. He died in the eightieth 
year of his age. To the comprehensive mind of Roger 
Bacon many of the discoveries which have been made by 
the genius and toil of later ages were known. His knowl- 
edge of mathematics and natural philosophy was profound. 
He discovered the error in the calendar, and his plan for 
correcting it was adopted by Gregory XIII. He was ac- 
quainted with the structure of an air-pump, with the laws 
of optics, and the power of glass. His acquaintance with 
chemistry was extensive. He gave such a description of 
gunpowder that it is evident he was its inventor, though 
there is proof that the Chinese were acquainted with gun- 
powder at a very early era of their history. In his writ- 
ings, which amounted to above eighty treatises, some of 
which are published, and some preserved in manuscript in 
the libraries of Europe, he uses an elegant, nervous style, 
and was always accurate in his observations on nature. 

g8. John Marshall. — Who was the most illustrious 
jurist that America ever produced? Ans. John Marshall. 

John Marshall, the son of Thomas Marshall, of Fauquier 
County, Virginia, was born on the 24th of September, 
1755. He had some classical instruction in his youth, 
but never had the benefit of a regular collegiate educa- 
tion. At the commencement of the Revolutionary war 
he engaged with ardor in the American cause, and -was 
promoted, in 1777, to the rank of captain. In 1781, 
finding that there was a surplus of officers in the Virginia 



WHO? I09 



line, he resigned his commission, and having been ad- 
mitted to the bar the year before, he devoted himself to 
the practice of the law, and soon rose to great distinction. 
He was a member of the Virginia convention that was 
called to ratify the Constitution, and in this body he 
greatly distinguished himself by his powerful reasoning 
and eloquence. After this he accepted two or three high 
offices of trust and honor ; and, on the resignation of 
Chief- Justice Ellsworth, he became, on the nomination 
of President Adams and the confirmation of the Senate, 
on the 31st of January, 1801, chief-justice of the United 
States. This office he continued to fill with becoming 
dignity, increasing reputation, and unsullied purity till 
his death, which took place in Philadelphia on the 6th 
of July, 1835. He had been for some months in feeble 
health, and went from Richmond, his place of residence, 
to the city of Brotherly Love to obtain medical aid. He 
died while there, surrounded by three of his children. It 
is impossible to speak in too high terms of the public and 
private worth of Chief-Justice Marshall. No man ever 
bore public honors more meekly ; but while, from the 
simplicity of his manners and his kindness of heart, he 
endeared himself to every social circle, from his extraor- 
dinary talents, his great legal attainments, and his unsus- 
pected integrity he was the object of respect and confidence 
throughout the nation. His published works are "Life 
of Washington," in five volumes, 8vo, "The History of 
the American Colonies," one volume, and a work upon 
"The Federal Constitution." 

99. Turgeneff. — Who is Turgeneff? Ans. A famous 
Russian novelist. 

Turgeneff-Ivan was born in Orel in November, 181 8. 
His principal works are "Smoke," "Fathers and Sons," 
"Memoirs of a Sportsman," "Journal of a Useless 
Man," etc. 

100. Klara Mundt. — Who was "Louise Miihlbach"? 
Ans. Klara Mundt. 

Klara Miiller, best known by her pseudonym of Louise 
Miihlbach, was a German novelist. She was born in New 
Brandenburg, January 2, 1814, and died in Berlin, Sep- 
tember 27, 1873. On her grave is a marble tablet, marked 



HO WHO? 



" Klara Mnndt, aged fifty-nine, the historical novelist of 
Germany." She was married to Theodor Mundt, a Ger- 
man author, in 1839, an d in the same year published her 
first novel. The long series of romances which followed 
gained great popularity and brought her a large property, 
enabling her to support her husband during the long ill- 
ness which preceded his death, and to build a handsome 
residence in Berlin, where she was a prominent figure in 
literary society. Madame Mundt w r as an advocate of fe- 
male suffrage and of great changes in the social position 
of woman, an extreme liberal in her political views, and 
a frequent participant in reform movements in these and 
similar directions. She wrote many essays on social ques- 
tions. Her historical romances have been translated into 
English, and are as well known in Great Britain and 
America as in Germany. The facts of history are very 
freely treated in them, and the imagination of the writer 
is allowed full liberty; but the narratives are spirited, and 
the social features of the periods of which they treat are 
often fairly represented. The best known of her works are 
" Frederick the Great and his Court," "Joseph II. and his 
Court," "The Merchant of Berlin," "Frederick the Great 
and his Family," "Berlin and Sans-Souci," "Henry 
VIII. and Catherine Parr," "Louisa of Prussia and her 
Times," "Marie Antoinette and her Son," "Goethe 
and Schiller." In all she wrote more than fifty separate 
novels, comprising nearly one hundred volumes. 

101. Joseph Rodman Drake. — Who wrote "The 
Culprit Fay" ? Ans. Joseph Rodman Drake. 

Joseph Rodman Drake was born in the city of New 
York, August 7, 1795. After a suitable preparatory edu- 
cation he entered upon the study of medicine, obtained 
his degrees in October, 18 16, and soon after married a 
daughter of Henry Eckford, a wealthy merchant, and was 
thus placed above the necessity of laboring in his pro- 
fession. It is well that it was so, for his health, always 
delicate, began to decline, and in the winter of 1819 he 
went to New Orleans, in the hope that its milder climate 
would be of service to him. But he returned in the spring 
of 1820, not in the least improved, lingered through the 
summer, and died on the 21st of September, 1820, at the 



WHO ? in 



early age of thirty-five. Drake began to write verses 
when he was very young, and before he was sixteen 
contributed, anonymously, to two or three newspapers. 
Some humorous and satirical pieces, called the "Croaker 
Pieces," were written by him for the "Evening Post," 
in March, 1819. Soon after, his friend Fitz-Greene 
Halleck, the poet, united with him, and the pieces were 
signed "Croaker & Co." The last one, written by 
Drake, was that spirited ode "The American Flag." 
"The Culprit Fay" is that on which the fame of Drake 
chiefly rests, and an ever-enduring foundation will it 
prove to be ; for a poem of more exquisite fancy, as hap- 
pily conceived as it is artistically executed, we have hardly 
had since the days of Milton's " Comus." 

102. Dr. Samuel Johnson. — Who was called the 
"Birmingham Doctor"? Ans. Dr. Samuel Johnson. 
(See 90 in " Who?") 

103. Bernard Barton. — Who was the " Puritan 
Poet"? Ans. Bernard Barton. (See 7 in "What?") 

104. John Howard Payne. — Who wrote "Home, 
Sweet Home"? Ans. John Howard Payne. 

John Howard Payne was born in the city of New York, 
June 9, 1792. He early showed great poetical taste, to- 
gether with a strong passion for the stage, on which he 
made his first appearance at the Park Theatre, in his na- 
tive city, in his sixteenth year, in the character of "Young 
Norval." After that, for some years, he performed in 
our chief cities with great success. In 1813 he went to 
England, and established in London a theatrical journal, 
called the "Opera-Glass." He returned home in 1834, 
and in 185 1 was appointed consul at Tunis, where he 
died the next year at the age of sixty. Payne wrote a 
number of dramas and other poems ; but he is now only 
known by the beautiful air " Home, Sweet Home," which 
he introduced, when in London, into an opera called 
" Clari, or the Maid of Milan." No song was ever more 
popular, and the profits of it (which went to the man- 
ager of the theatre, Charles Kemble, and not to Payne, 
to whom they belonged) are said to have amounted to two 
thousand guineas in two years. It is also said that at one 
time Payne was so poor that he had to beg in the street, 



112 WHO? 



and that he would often stop before magnificent houses, 
where mirth was at its height, and listen to the gay and 
thoughtless inmates singing his own "Home, Sweet 
Home," and he without a cent in his pocket with which 
to buy bread. 

105. Xerxes. — Who commanded the largest army 
mentioned in history ? Ans. Xerxes. 

Xerxes was a grandson of Cyrus the Great, and the 
son of Darius, a Persian king, who invaded Greece 
480 B.C. On the death of Darius, Xerxes ascended 
the throne, and, as part of his inheritance, got the 
war with the Greeks, which his father was carrying on 
at the time of his death. During the early part of the 
war that Xerxes waged were fought the celebrated battles 
of Thermopylae and Plataea on land, and those of the 
straits of Salamis and Mycale on water. The two former 
battles were fought 480 B.C., and the two latter 479. Le- 
on idas, Themistocles, Aristides, Pausanius, and several 
others distinguished themselves in the defense of Greece, 
and acquired lasting renown by their achievements. 
Xerxes brought with him into Greece two millions of 
fighting men, besides vast numbers of women and domes- 
tics, the largest army and assemblage of persons recorded 
in history. This immense force was effectually resisted 
during two days, at the pass of Thermopylae, by six 
thousand Greeks. (See 78 in "What?") Xerxes was a 
vain mortal. He ordered a passage to be cut through 
the high mountain of Athos, in Macedonia, and thus a 
canal was made for his ships. He is said to have written 
a letter to Mount Athos, in which he " commanded it not 
to put stones in the way of his workmen, or he would cut 
it down and throw it into the sea;" and he ordered the 
laborers to be chastised to make them work faster. When 
he saw from a high hill the plain covered with his sol- 
diers and the sea with his ships, he at first, in the pride 
of his heart, called himself the most favored of mortals ; 
but when he reflected that in a hundred years not one of 
the many thousands whom he beheld would be alive, he 
burst into tears at the instability of all human things. 
Almost all of the small cities of Greece submitted to the 
Persian king when he sent to them, as was the custom, for 
earth and water; this was the same as asking them " if 



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"3 



they would receive him as their conqueror." Sparta and 
Athens, with the small towns of Thespia and Platsea, 
alone refused to receive the heralds and to send the tokens 
of homage. 

106. D. R. Locke.— Who is "Petroleum V. Nasby" ? 
Ans. D. R. Locke. 

107. Black Prince. — Who was the "Black Prince" ? 
Ans. Son of Edward III. of England, and so called from 
the color of his armor. 

On the death of " Charles the Fair," in 1328, Edward 
having claim to the throne of France as being son of 
Isabella, sister to the deceased king, and first in female 
succession, prepared to assert his claim (since the French 
rejected it) by the force of arms. For this purpose he 
invaded France in 1339, and from that time till 1360 war 
waged furiously between the two countries, with only occa- 
sional suspensions. During this long contention were 
fought the famous battles of Crecy, in 1346, and Poi- 
tiers, in 1356. The battle of Crecy was fought between 
Philip, the French king, on the one side, and Edward 
and his son, the "Black Prince," on the other. The 
army of Philip amounted to one hundred thousand men, 
that of the English to only thirty thousand. The battle 
of Crecy was remarkable on account of the great loss of 
the French. There fell in this engagement, by a moder- 
ate computation, twelve hundred French knights, fourteen 
hundred gentlemen, four thousand men-at-arms, besides 
about thirty thousand of an inferior rank. The English 
were fortunate in losing only one esquire and three 
knights, and an inconsiderable number of private men. 
The battle of Poitiers was fought between the "Black 
Prince" and King John of France. The former com- 
manded only sixteen thousand men, while the army of 
the latter amounted to sixty thousand. Notwithstanding 
the great difference in numbers, the English obtained a 
decided victory in both engagements. The heroism of 
the "Black Prince" has rendered his name ever famous 
in the annals of war. In the battle of Poitiers, the 
French king was taken prisoner, and afterwards he was 
led by the "Black Prince" in triumph to London. He 
was treated with the greatest courtesy by his conqueror. 

10* 



ii4 



WHO? 



The "Black Prince" did not live to come to the throne, 
dying, after a lingering illness, in his forty-sixth year. 

108. Christopher Wren. — Who was the architect of 
St. Paul's Cathedral in London? Ans. Sir Christopher 
Wren. 

Sir Christopher Wren, a celebrated English architect, 
was the son of the rector of East Knoyle, in Wiltshire, 
where he was born in 1632. He entered as a student at 
Wadham College, Oxford, in 1646, previous to which 
time he had given proofs of his genius by the invention 
of astronomical and pneumatic instruments. In 1647 he 
wrote a treatise on spherical trigonometry upon a new 
plan, and in the following year composed an algebraical 
tract on the Julian period. In 1653 he was chosen a 
fellow of the college of All-Souls. He was one of the 
earliest members of the Philosophical Society at Oxford, 
which was the origin of the Royal Society, after the in- 
stitution of which, in 1663, he was elected a Fellow, and 
distinguished himself by his activity in promoting the 
objects of that institution. In 1661 he was nominated 
to the Savilian professorship of astronomy at Oxford, and 
two years later was commissioned to prepare designs for 
the restoration of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, then 
one of the most remarkable Gothic edifices in the king- 
dom. To prepare himself for the execution of this great 
work, he made a visit to France in 1665, and while there 
finished his designs ; but while they were under considera- 
tion the cathedral was destroyed by the great fire of 1666, 
and the plan of repairing it was necessarily relinquished. 
Wren had now an opportunity for signalizing his talents 
by the erection of an entirely new structure. Fifty paro- 
chial churches and many public buildings were destroyed 
at the same time, which furnished an ample field for his 
genius. In 1667 he was made surveyor of the works, 
which necessitated his resignation of his Savilian profes- 
sorship. In 1674 he was knighted, and in the following 
year the foundation of the new cathedral was laid. In 
1680 he was chosen president of the Royal Society. In 
1683 he was appointed architect and one of the commis- 
sioners of Chelsea College. In the following year he was 
appointed controller of the works of Windsor Castle. 



WHO? II5 



He was elected member of Parliament for the borough of 
Plympton in 1685. To his other public trusts were added 
in 1698 those of surveyor-general and commissioner for 
the repair of Westminster Abbey. In 1708 he was made 
one of the commissioners for the erection of fifty new 
churches in and near the city of London. After long 
having been the highest ornament of his profession, he 
was, in 17 18, deprived of the survivorship of the royal 
works from political motives. He was then in the eighty- 
fifth year of his life, the remainder of which was devoted 
to scientific pursuits and the study of the Scriptures. He 
died February 25, 1723. He was buried with great pomp, 
and his body placed under the choir in the great cathe- 
dral which stands as a lasting monument to his genius. 
His talents were particularly adapted to ecclesiastical 
architecture ; in his palaces and private houses he has 
sometimes sunk into a heavy monotony, as at Hampton 
Court and Winchester. 

109. Abigail Dodge. — Who is "Gail Hamilton"? 
Ans. Abigail Dodge. 

Abigail Dodge is an American writer. Her works are 
"Wool Gathering," "Gala Days," "Woman's Wrongs," 
" Country Living and Country Thinking," etc. 

no. Miss De la Rame'e. — Who is " Ouida" ? Ans. 
Miss De la Ramee. 

She has written "Chandos," "Granville de Vigne," 
" A Provence Rose," " Under Two Flags," etc. 

in. Earl of Warwick. — Who was surnamed the 
"King-Maker"? Ans. Earl of Warwick. * 

Richard Nevil, Earl of Warwick, figured conspicuously 
during the " quarrel of the Roses," in 1455. Henry VI. 
was on the throne of England, but it was claimed by 
Richard, Duke of York, as he was a descendant of the 
second son of Edward III., while Henry was a descend- 
ant from Edward's third son. The whole nation took 
the side of one or the other, and each party was distin- 
guished by a particular symbol. That of the Lancas- 
trians was the red rose, and that of the Yorkites the white 
rose, which gave the contention the name of the "war 
of the Roses." The Earl of Warwick was chiefly instru- 
mental in deposing King Henry VI. and raising the Duke 



n6 WHO? 



of York to the throne as Edward IV., and then after- 
wards putting Edward to flight, and restoring the crown 
to Henry VI. Hence his name of " King-Maker." 

112. Samuel Rogers. — Who is called "The Banker 
Poet"? Ans. Samuel Rogers. (See 8 in "Who?") 

113. Mahomet. — Who wrote the Koran ? A?is. Ma- 
homet. 

Mahomet was born at Mecca, on the Red Sea, about 
570 a.d. His immediate ancestors seem to have been un- 
distinguished, and, though his natural talents were great, 
it is certain that his education was very limited. He 
acquired knowledge, but not from books. He was dis- 
tinguished for the beauty of his person, having a com- 
manding presence, a majestic aspect, piercing eyes, a 
flowing beard, and his whole countenance depicting the 
strong emotions of his mind. His memory was retentive, 
his wit easy, and his judgment clear and decisive. Ma- 
homet was king of Arabia, and pretended to be a prophet. 
In 609, when he was about forty years old, he began to 
concert a system of measures the issue of which was the 
establishment of a new religion in the world, and of an 
empire which, spreading over many countries, lasted 
more than six centuries. The book containing their 
creed, which was produced by Mahomet in successive por- 
tions, is called the Koran, which he claimed to have 
gotten direct from the angel Gabriel. He propagated 
his religion by the sword, and taught that to profess any 
other was a just cause of hatred and even murder. Ma- 
homet persisted in his religious fraud, or fanaticism, to 
the last. On his death-bed he had asserted that the angel 
of death was not allowed to take his soul till he had re- 
spectfully asked permission of the prophet. He promised 
to those who would embrace his creed all the delights of 
Paradise, connected with sensual pleasures to be enjoyed 
in that region of pure waters, shady groves, and exquisite 
fruits. Such a heaven was wonderfully taking with the 
Arabians, whose bodily temperament, habits, and burning 
climate led them to contemplate images of this sort with 
excessive pleasure. On the other hand, his threats were 
peculiarly terrific to this people. If they did not embrace 
his religion the reprobates would be allowed to drink 



WHO? ny 



nothing but putrid and boiling water, nor breathe any 
save the hottest winds ; they would dwell forever in con- 
tinual fire, intensely burning, and be surrounded by a 
black, hot, salt smoke, as with a coverlid, etc. ; and to 
fill the measure of their fears, by joining the present with 
the future life, he threatened most grievous punishment in 
this world. Mahomet died in 632, and was buried at 
Mecca ; many pilgrimages to his grave have been made 
by his faithful followers, the Mussulmans. 

114. Edward V. of England. — Who was the "mi- 
nor" king? Ans. Edward V. of England. 

Edward V., a minor, succeeded his father in 1483, 
under the protection of his uncle, the Duke of Glouces- 
ter. A few days afterwards the Duke of Gloucester caused 
himself to be proclaimed, under the title of Richard III. 
The young king and his brother having been removed to 
the Tower by Richard's order, under pretense of guarding 
them, disappeared about that time. The diabolical Rich- 
ard had inhumanly deprived them of life. The murder 
of the two princes was as deep a tragedy as any recorded 
in English history. Richard gave orders to Sir Robert 
Brakenbury, constable of the Tower, to put his two 
nephews to death. This gentleman, who had some senti- 
ment of honor, refused to stain his hands with so black a 
deed, even at the bidding of his king. The tyrant then 
engaged Sir James Tyrrel, who, choosing three associates 
as wicked as himself, came in the night to the door of 
the chamber where the princes were lodged, and sending 
in the assassins, he bade them execute their commission. 
After suffocating them with the bolster and pillows, they 
showed their naked bodies to Tyrrel, who ordered them 
to be buried at the foot of the stairs, deep in the ground, 
under a heap of stones. These circumstances were all 
confessed by the bloody actors in the following reign. In 
the reign of Charles II. the bones of two persons were 
found in the place indicated, which exactly corresponded 
in size with Edward V. and his brother. Being judged 
the undoubted remains of these unhappy little princes, 
they were deposited in Westminster Abbey. 

115. Sir Humphry Davy. — Who invented the 
"safety lamp" ? Ans. Sir Humphry Davy. 



n8 WHO? 



Sir Humphry Davy, who ranks in science second to 
none in the nineteenth century, was born at Penzance, 
in Cornwall, England, on the 17th of December, 1778. 
He was early bound to a surgeon and apothecary of his 
native town, who had a great fondness for chemical ex- 
periments. Here young Davy found what was exactly 
congenial to his tastes, and with such extraordinary en- 
thusiasm did he devote himself to these pursuits that he 
abandoned all the usual enjoyments and relaxations of 
youth, and showed an aversion to all festive society. His 
success in scientific inquiries in a few years became known 
and appreciated, and he was engaged as an assistant to 
Dr. Beddoes in the Pneumatic Institution at Bristol. In 
1803 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, of 
which he subsequently became secretary, and finally presi- 
dent. That for which he is most widely known is the 
invention of the wonderful "safety lamp," which first 
shed its beams in the dark recesses of a coal-pit on the 
9th of January, 1816, and enables miners to work with 
perfect safety, where before dreadful accidents were con- 
stantly occurring. When the lamp was completed and 
had been thoroughly tested, Davy descended with it him- 
self into the mines. When a man who was working alone 
in a part of the mine where he dared have no light saw 
him coming, he called out, frantically, " Hold ! don't 
dare come here !" but, as slowly and cautiously the light 
advanced, the miner grew beside himself, and fell on his 
knees begging and beseeching for help. What was his 
joy to find that not only was no harm done, but that this 
light that he so dreaded was to become his friend in the 
dark cavern ever after! The "safety lamp" is about ten 
inches in height, with a base like an ordinary lamp for 
burning lard-oil. It has a small wire running through 
the bottom, for either trimming or extinguishing it when 
necessary. When the gas becomes too strong in the 
mine for safety with a light, the Davy lamp will make a 
small blue flame, which will rise to the top of the lamp 
and increase in size until the inside of the lamp is full 
of flame, which will then explode if not put out at once. 
The sides or body of the Davy lamp is made of very fine 
wire gauze. There have been improvements on this safety 
lamp, and one, called the "glass-base lamp," is valuable 



WHO? II9 



because it puts itself out when the gas becomes dangerous. 
But it is not generally considered by the "pit-bosses" 
as good and true an indicator as the real Davy lamp in 
warning a miner either to go where the air is purer or to 
put out his ordinary coal-miner's lamp. The Davy lamp 
is hung on the wall, while the miner is at work with his 
pick and his little lamp ; but he watches furtively and 
anxiously in the mean time for the rising of the blue flame 
in the light at his side. This noble invention was so ap- 
preciated by the coal-owners in the north of England, 
that they invited Sir Humphry Davy to a public dinner at 
Newcastle, and sent him a service of plate, valued at two 
thousand pounds. The Emperor of Russia also sent him 
a splendid silver vase as a testimonial of regard, and he 
was created a baronet. His constant labors broke down 
his health, and he went to Italy for rest and a change of 
scene. While there he amused himself by writing "Salm- 
onia, or Days of Fly-Fishing," and his "Consolations 
in Travel, or the Last Days of a Philosopher." He left 
Italy in a very weak state, and had only reached Geneva, 
on his way home, when he died there, May 30, 1829. In 
181 2 Davy married a Mrs. Apreece, an accomplished 
woman of fortune. 

116. Charles Wilkes. — Who discovered the Ant- 
arctic Continent? Ans. Charles Wilkes. 

Charles Wilkes, an American naval officer and explorer, 
was born in New York City, 1801. He entered the navy 
as midshipman in 181 6, and served first with Commodore 
McDonough in the Mediterranean ; in 1819-20, and after- 
wards in the Pacific, with Commodore Stewart, where 
he became distinguished for his nautical skill, and in 1826 
was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and given a sepa- 
rate command. He was the first in the United States 
to take observations from fixed astronomical instruments. 
Being sent to survey George's Bank, he accomplished the 
undertaking with so much success that he was intrusted 
with the exploration of the South Sea, for which he set 
out with five vessels in 1838, and during four years made 
numerous discoveries, being the first who sighted the Ant- 
arctic Continent, hitherto unknown. He afterwards ex- 
plored the west coast of North America, and on his return 
to New York, in 1842, was promoted to be commander. 



120 WHO 



He was court-martialed the same year, and reprimanded 
for illegally punishing his crew. At the outbreak of the 
late civil war he acquired considerable notoriety for the 
forcible seizure of the Confederate commissioners, Ma- 
son and Slidell, from the British mail steamer Trent, in 
the Bahama Channel, November 8, 1861, for which act 
he received the thanks of Congress, although it was 
disapproved by President Lincoln. In 1862 he was pro- 
moted to the rank of commodore, and assigned to the 
command of the flotilla in the James River, and on 
August 28 shelled and destroyed City Point. He was 
afterwards appointed rear-admiral, and assigned to the 
command of the West Indies squadron. He was awarded 
the gold medal of the Geographical Society of London 
in 1848. He is the author of a history of his four years' 
cruise, entitled a "Narrative of the United States Ex- 
ploring Expedition during the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 
1842," "Western America," "Theory of the Winds," 
and other works. He died in 1876. 

117. Zenobia. — Who was styled "Queen of the East"? 
Ans. Zenobia. 

Zenobia was a celebrated princess, wife of Odenatus, 
and after his death queen of Palmyra. With equal talents 
for jurisprudence and finance, thoroughly skilled in the 
arts and duties of government, and adapting severity and 
clemency with nice discernment to the exigency of the 
circumstances, her agile and elastic frame enabled her to 
direct and share the labors and enterprises of war. Dis- 
daining the female litter, she was continually on horse- 
back, and could even keep pace on foot with the march 
of her soldiery. In spite of these masculine traits of 
character, history has preserved many reminiscences of 
her personal appearance, her dress, and her habits, which 
show her to have been an engaging beauty, gifted with 
all the graces of a court, and accomplished in literary 
endowments. Zenobia was the daughter of an Arabian 
prince, who held under his sway all the southern part of 
Mesopotamia. She was a widow when she married Odena- 
tus, by whom she had two sons. She also had one by her 
first husband. In complexion she was a brunette ; her 
teeth were of a pearly whiteness, and her eyes were black 



WHO? I2 I 



and sparkling; her mien was animated, and her voice 
clear and powerful. With a helmet on her head, and 
wearing a purple mantle fringed with gems and clasped 
with a buckle at the waist, so as to leave one of her arms 
bare to the shoulder, she presented herself at the council 
of war; and affecting from the policy of her country a 
regal pomp, she was worshiped with Persian prostration. 
Pure in her manners to the utmost refinement of delicacy, 
and temperate in her habits, she would nevertheless chal- 
lenge in their cups her Persian and Armenian guests, and 
retire the victor without ebriety. Chiefly versed in the 
languages of Syria and Egypt, her modesty restrained her 
from conversing freely in Latin ; but she had read the 
Roman history in Greek, and was herself an elegant his- 
torian, and had compiled the " Annals of Alexandria and 
the East." Her authority was acknowledged by a large 
portion of Asia Minor when Aurelian succeeded to the 
throne of Rome. Envious of her power, and determined 
to dispossess her of some of the rich provinces compre- 
hended in her domains, he marched at the head of a 
powerful army to Asia. Having defeated the queen's 
general near Antioch, he compelled her to retreat to 
Emesa. Under the walls of this city another engage- 
ment took place, in which the Emperor Aurelian was 
again victorious. The queen fled to Palmyra, determined 
to support a siege. Aurelian followed her, and on making 
his approaches to the walls, found them mounted in every 
part with mural engines, which plied the besiegers with 
stones, darts, and missile fires. To a summons for a sur- 
render of the city and kingdom, on the condition of her 
life being spared, Zenobia replied in a proud and spirited 
letter, written in Greek by her secretary, the celebrated 
Longinus. Her hopes of victory soon vanished ; and 
though she harassed the Romans night and day by con- 
tinual sallies from her walls and the working of her mili- 
tary engines, she despaired of success when she heard that 
the armies which were marching to her relief from Ar- 
menia, Persia, and the East had either been intercepted 
or gained over by the foe. She fled from Palmyra in the 
night on her dromedaries, but was overtaken by the 
Roman horse while attempting to cross the Euphrates, 

F II 



122 WHO? 



and was brought into the presence of Aurelian, and tried 
before a tribunal at Emesa, Aurelian himself presiding. 
The soldiers were clamorous for her death ; but she, in 
a manner unworthy her former fame, saved her own life 
by throwing the blame on her councillors, especially on 
Longinus, who, in consequence, was put to death. Zenobia 
was carried to Rome to grace the emperor's triumph, and 
was led along in chains of gold. She is said to have 
almost sunk beneath the weight of jewels with which she 
was adorned on that occasion. She was treated with 
great humanity, and Aurelian gave her large possessions 
near Tibur, where she was permitted to pass the remainder 
of her days. Her sons afterwards married into distin- 
guished Roman families. She died in the third century 
of the Christian era. 

118. Captain James Cook. — Who first sailed around 
the world ? Am. Captain Cook. 

James Cook, an English navigator, was born at Marton, 
Yorkshire, October 27, 1728, and was killed at the Sand- 
wich Islands, February 14, 1779. These islands he dis- 
covered while exploring in the South Pacific, in 1778. 
His father was a farm laborer; and in his thirteenth year 
James was apprenticed to a haberdasher in Straiths, a 
little fishing- town near Whitby. His father dying, he 
persuaded his master to give up his indentures, and en- 
gaged himself as cabin-boy in one of the coasting vessels 
of Whitby. Having spent several years in this service 
and become master of a vessel, in 1755 ne shipped in the 
royal navy, and was speedily promoted to the quarter- 
deck for his efficiency. Having been master success- 
ively of two sloops, in 1759 he had his master's rank 
confirmed by the admiralty, and was appointed to the 
Mercury, a frigate belonging to the squadron sent out to 
co-operate with General Wolfe at Quebec. He piloted 
the boats of the squadron to the attack of Montmorency; 
conducted the disembarkation of the troops for the as- 
sault on the Heights of Abraham ; made careful soundings, 
and afterwards published a chart of the channel of the St. 
Lawrence from Quebec to the sea. Being promoted to 
the flag-ship Northumberland, he improved his leisure by 
the study of mathematics and astronomy. In 1762 he 



WHO? 



123 



was present at the recapture of Newfoundland. Return- 
ing to England, he married, and in 1763 came out to sur- 
vey the coast of Newfoundland, and in the following year 
was appointed marine surveyor of that coast and Labra- 
dor. Meantime he had published a number of charts, 
and while near Cape Ray was able to observe an eclipse 
of the sun. The record of his observations, published in 
the "Philosophical Transactions," showed an accuracy 
which gave him a high reputation as an astronomer. 
When the Royal Society obtained the consent of the king 
to fit out an expedition for the purpose of observing the 
transit of Venus over the sun's disk, which could only 
be done in the Pacific Ocean, he was chosen to command 
the vessel. He received a royal commission as lieuten- 
ant, chose the Endeavor, of three hundred and seventy 
tons, as the expedition ship, and sailed August 23, 1768, 
from Plymouth, accompanied by Mr. Green as astrono- 
mer and Mr. (later Sir Joseph) Banks as naturalist of the 
expedition. On April 13, 1769, the ship arrived at Ta- 
hiti, when the necessary astronomical observations were 
made. He next sailed in search of the Antarctic Conti- 
nent, then believed to exist near the south pole; redis- 
covered New Zealand, and first saw the narrow strait which 
divides it into two parts ; took possession of the coast of 
Australia about Botany Bay in the name of the King of 
Great Britain, and laid down thirteen hundred miles of 
the coast-line ; proved by actual investigation the entire 
separation of that island and Papua ; after various escapes 
from shipwrecks and native hostility, put into Batavia to 
refit, where thirty of his men died of the country sick- 
ness ; and finally reached England June 11, 1771, having 
in less than three years circumnavigated the globe and 
fulfilled the various objects of the expedition. Australia 
being demonstrated to be an island, the great southern 
continent was supposed to lie near the pole. To settle 
this point it was determined to send out another expedi- 
tion. Two ships, therefore, the Resolution, commanded 
by Cook, and the Adventure, commanded by Tobias 
Furneaux, sailed again from Plymouth, July 13, 1772, 
with instructions to "circumnavigate the whole globe in 
high southern latitudes, making traverses from time to 



124 WHO? 



time into every part of the Pacific Ocean which had not 
undergone previous investigation, and to use his best en- 
deavors to resolve the much agitated question of a southern 
continent/' After sailing over three thousand six hun- 
dred and sixty leagues, and being out of sight of land 
one hundred and seventeen days, the two ships, which 
had taken different routes, met at New Zealand. Cook 
was now satisfied that no continent existed at the south ; 
but after wintering in the Society Islands, he examined 
the waters to the eastward of his former cruise, and dis- 
covered and named the island of New Caledonia; and 
finally turned eastward towards Cape Horn, and returned 
by way of Cape of Good Hope to England, arriving July 
30, 1775, after an absence of three years and sixteen 
days, in which time the vessel had sailed over twenty 
thousand leagues. He was now made post-captain, and 
appointed captain of Greenwich Hospital. He was also 
chosen member of the Royal Society, and received the 
Copley gold medal for the best experimental paper of the 
year, in which he gave an account of his method of pre- 
serving the health of his men. The possibility of achiev- 
ing a northwest passage to Asia had begun again to oc- 
cupy the public mind, and Cook, always ready for adven- 
ture, volunteered to take charge of an expedition to as- 
certain its practicability by making the attempt by way 
of Behring Strait. For the third time he left Plymouth, 
July 12, 1776, in his old ship Resolution, and Discovery, 
the latter under command of Captain Charles Clerke. It 
was during this expedition that he discovered and named 
the Sandwich Islands. Circumnavigating these, and lay- 
ing down their position on the chart, he reached the 
coast of America in March, sailed up a sound since known 
as Cook's Inlet, and, finding no passage through, set out 
for Behring Strait. Here he was stopped by an impassa- 
ble barrier of ice. He determined the most westerly 
point of America, and its distance from Asia, reached the 
point still known by the name he gave it, Icy Cape, Au- 
gust 18, 1778, and did not turn back till the end of the 
month, when he found it impossible to proceed. Return- 
ing to the Sandwich Islands to prepare for another at- 
tempt northward the next year, he discovered Hawaii, the 



WHO? 



«5 



largest of the group, and Maui. He cruised about Hawaii 
several weeks, and found the natives peaceably disposed, 
but fond of stealing. One of his boats being stolen on 
the night of February 14, 1779, he determined on the 
rash measure of seizing the person of the king and holding 
him until the property was restored. Going ashore for 
that purpose the next morning, with a lieutenant and nine 
men, he aroused the suspicions of the natives, and a fight 
ensued, in which Cook was killed. His body, and those 
of several marines who were slain, were afterwards cut up 
and probably devoured, only the bones of the great navi- 
gator being recovered by the expedition, seven days later. 
These were deposited in a coffin and buried in the sea. 
Cook's widow received a pension of two hundred pounds 
per annum, and each of his children twenty-five pounds. 
An account of his last voyage was prepared from his 
journal, and a continuation by Lieutenant King. The 
charts and plates illustrating it were prepared at the ex- 
pense of the government, and half the profits of the work 
were bestowed on the family of the navigator. 

119. Sir William Herschel. — Who invented the re- 
flecting telescope? Ans. Sir William Herschel. 

Sir William Herschel, an English astronomer of great 
note, was born in Hanover, November 15, 1738, and died 
at Slough, near Windsor, August 23, 1822. His father, 
a musician, educated him to his own profession, and at 
the age of fourteen placed him in the band of the Hano- 
verian Foot-Guards. In 1757 he went to England to seek 
his fortune, and for some years devoted himself to music 
for support. He became organist at Halifax, and in 1766 
at the Octagon Chapel in Bath. In the latter place he 
first turned his attention to the study of astronomy, par- 
ticularly to the construction of optical instruments. In 
1774 he made a large reflecting telescope. While at Bath 
he constructed two hundred Newtonian telescopes of seven 
feet focus, one hundred and fifty of ten feet, and about 
eighty of twenty feet focus, and did far more than any 
one who preceded him in uniting to the best advantage 
the magnifying and the illuminating powers of the tele- 
scope. With a telescope magnifying two hundred and 
twenty-seven times Herschel began a careful survey of 



126 WHO? 



all the stars serially, and while examining the constella- 
tion of Gemini he noticed, March 13, 1781, that one of 
them appeared unusually large, and a second examination 
showed it to have changed its place. Finally he pro- 
nounced it a comet, and it was so published in the "Phil- 
osophical Transactions," 1781. This announcement of 
the supposed comet drew the attention of astronomers, 
and they began to endeavor to compute its course. The 
president, Saron, first pronounced it a planet, and then 
Sexell and Laplace almost simultaneously computed its 
elements, and found it to have an elliptical orbit, whose 
great axis was about nineteen times greater than that of 
the earth, and the period of its revolution to be eighty- 
four years. Herschel had taken no part in the mathe- 
matical calculations, but on its being pronounced a planet 
he proposed to name it the Georgium Sidus. It has often 
been called Herschel, but the name Uranus applied to it 
by Bode has been generally adopted. The discovery of 
Uranus attracted the attention of all Europe, and Her- 
schel was made private astronomer to the king, with a 
salary of four hundred pounds a year, and a house near 
Windsor, first at Datchet, and finally at Slough. With 
funds advanced by the king,* Herschel constructed his 
celebrated forty-foot reflecting telescope, the metal specu- 
lum of which was four feet in diameter, three and a half 
inches thick, and over two thousand pounds in weight. 
The plane mirror of the instrument was dispensed with, 
and the observer sat in a swinging-chair with his back to 
the object observed, and facing the object end of the tube 
in which the image, by an inclination of the speculum, 
was thrown to one side and observed through a single 
lens. He conjectured that with this instrument eighteen 
million stars might be seen in the Milky Way. The glory 
of Herschel was greatest in sidereal astronomy, of which 
he might be said to have laid the foundation. In 1788 
he married a Mrs. Mary Pitt, a widow of considerable 
fortune, and had by her one son, John Frederick Wil- 
liam, who was also a noted astronomer. The sister of 
Herschel, Caroline Lucretia, is nearly as celebrated as he, 
and worked with him constantly, often doing his entire 
calculating for him. 



* George III. of England. 



WHO? 



127 



120. James Graham. — Who was surnamed "The 
Great Marquis" ? Ans. James Graham. 

James Graham was Marquis of Montrose (born in 161 2, 
died in 1650), and the title of "The Great Marquis" was 
given him on account of his historic deeds in the cause 
of Charles I. of England. 

121. Zaccheus. — Who was the "Little Man of Gali- 
lee" ? Ans. Zaccheus. 

Zaccheus (Luke xix. 2) was a rich Jew, resident in 
Jericho, and chief officer of the tax or tribute collectors 
in that place, and hence he is called a sinner ; for the Jews 
regarded all publicans or tax-gatherers in this light. His 
stature was so small that he was noted throughout the 
country as the "little man of Galilee." His curiosity 
to see Christ was so much excited that he took pains to 
climb into a tree by the roadside that he might have a 
fair view of him as the crowd passed. Jesus knowing his 
character and motives proposed to spend the day with 
him, to which Zaccheus gladly assented. His mind was 
probably brought at once under the influence of the spirit 
of God, and on that very day he and his family became 
interested in the salvation of the gospel. After his con- 
version he said, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I 
give to the poor ; and if I have taken anything from any 
man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." 

122. Lady Anne Barnard. — Who wrote "Auld 
Robin Gray"? Ans. Anne Barnard. 

Lady Anne Barnard was a daughter of James Lindsay, 
Earl of Balcarras, and was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 
1750. She was married in 1793 to Mr. Andrew Barnard, 
who was secretary under Lord Macartney at the colony 
of the Cape of Good Hope, where she died in 1825. 
This is all that can be gathered of the life of the authoress 
of one of the sweetest, tenderest, and most affecting bal- 
lads in the language, "Auld Robin Gray." 

123. Chevalier Bayard. — Who was the knight 
"without fear and without reproach"? Ans. Chevalier 
Bayard. 

"Pierre du Terrail Bayard, Chevalier de," was a 
French knight, born at the Chateau de Bayard, in Dau- 
phine, in 1475. He died in Italy, April 30, 1524. He 



128 WHO? 



was page to the Duke of Savoy, and was in the house- 
hold of Paul of Saxe-Coburg, Count de Ligny, when very 
young. It was in this capacity that he received his edu- 
cation in horsemanship, feats of arms, and rules of chiv- 
alry. At the age of eighteen he entered the service of 
Charles VIII. of France, and accompanied him in his 
expedition to Naples in 1494, during which he distin- 
guished himself by capturing a stand of colors in the 
battle of Fornovo. He displayed great courage also in 
the wars of his king, Louis XII. In 1522, with a force 
of one thousand men, he defended the unfortified town 
of Mezieres for six weeks against the invading army of 
the Count of Nassau, which numbered thirty-five thou- 
sand, and was aided by strong artillery. For this service 
Bayard received the collar of St. Michael, and was made 
commander of one hundred men-at-arms. This position 
had never before been held, except by a prince of the 
royal blood. He fell while fighting, — was struck by a 
stone, — taken from his horse, and at his own request 
left seated against a tree with his face to the advancing 
enemy, among whom he died. With his fall the battle 
ended. " Bayard was the last, as he was the best exam- 
ple of the institution of knight-errantry." 

124. Charlemagne. — Who was called the "Emperor 
of the West" ? Ans. Charlemagne. 

Charlemagne was king of France by succession, and 
Emperor of the West by conquest. He laid the founda- 
tion of the Western Franks. He was the son of Pepin, 
who, on his death, divided his dominions between his two 
sons, Charles and Carloman. Carloman dying two years 
afterwards, Charles came into possession of the whole 
kingdom. The exploits and policy of this prince pro- 
cured for him the title of Great, which, being incor- 
porated with his name, made Charlemagne (signifying 
Charles the Great), as he is known in history. He ex- 
celled all the sovereigns of his age, both as a warrior and 
statesman, although he is said to have been extremely 
illiterate. He was born on the 2d of April, 742. He was 
at war with the Saxons during thirty years, and his cruelty 
to them was something frightful. Their bravery and love 
of freedom gave him infinite trouble. They revolted six 



WHO? 



129 



different times, and were as often reduced to submission 
by force of arms. As a means of subduing their bold 
and ferocious character, he attempted to reduce them to 
Christianity; but their obstinacy provoked him to resort 
to compulsory processes for this end. Several thousands 
of them were cruelly put to death on refusing Christian 
baptism. Besides his success against the Saxons, Charle- 
magne put an end to the kingdom of the Lombards in 
Italy ; he successfully encountered the arms of the Sara- 
cens, defeated numerous barbarous tribes, and extended 
his empire beyond the Danube. In his many wars he 
scarcely met with a disaster. The only considerable re- 
verse that he ever encountered was when he was recross- 
ing the Pyrenees, after conquering Navarre and a part of 
Aragon. The rear of his army was then cut to pieces by 
the Saracens in the plains of Roncesvalles. On this occa- 
sion his nephew, the celebrated champion Roland, lost his 
life; this event laid the foundation of the "Orlando 
Furioso" of Ariosto. Charlemagne is said to have been 
seven feet in height, and of a robust constitution. He 
superintended his dominions himself, giving his own orders 
and seeing that they were obeyed. He was opposed to 
luxury, and dressed very simply, except on state occa- 
sions, and his table was as plain as that of any private * 
citizen. He encouraged industry, and sought to elevate 
the social and intellectual character of his subjects. He 
invited into France literary and scientific men from Italy 
and from the Britannic Islands. The latter in those dark 
ages preserved more of the light of learning than any of 
the Western kingdoms. He founded several seminaries 
of learning; but the darkness of the times could scarcely 
be alleviated by all his efforts. After rearing a splendid 
empire, he died in his seventy-fifth year, on the 28th of 
January, 814. 

125. Michael Angelo. — Who was one of the great- 
est architects of St. Peter's at Rome? Ans. Michael 
Angelo. 

Michael Angelo was born at Castel Caprese, near 
Arezzo, in Tuscany, 1474. He never married, and died 
in his eighty-ninth year, in Rome, 1563. His will was 
very simple, and, though known to many, we will repeat 

F* 



I3 o WHO? 



it here: "I bequeath my soul to God, my body to the 
earth, and my possessions to my nearest relations." His 
body, by the orders of the Grand Duke of Florence, 
and according, as is generally supposed, to the great 
painter's own wish, was removed to Florence, where it 
was buried with all honors in the church of Santa Croce. 
Michael Angelo was painter, architect, engineer, poet, 
musician, and excelled in every branch that he undertook, 
like the wonderful Leonardo, his friend and fellow-worker. 
He was of noble descent, and, though his ancient house 
had fallen into comparative poverty, his father was mayor 
of Chiusi and Caprese. The young artist was intended 
for the profession of the law, but his rare taste for art 
asserted itself so young that at the age of thirteen he was 
apprenticed to Ghirlandaio. Lorenzo the Magnificent 
was then ruling Florence, and he had made a collection 
of antique models in his palace and gardens, and threw 
them open as an academy for young artists. In this 
academy Angelo developed a strong bias for sculpture, 
and won the direct patronage of the Medici. The early 
displays of his genius raised so much jealousy among his 
youthful rivals that one of them hit him across the nose 
with a mallet, and he carried the mark to the grave with 
him. He has been represented as a proud, arrogant man, 
narrow in his half-idolatrous, half-human worship of art. 
"He was severe in place of being sweet; he was impa- 
tient of contradiction, careless and scornful of ceremony, 
and in his very wrath at flattery and hypocrisy he was 
liable to sin against his own honesty and sincerity. He 
was a man with a lofty sense of duty and a profound 
reverence for God. Michael Angelo was consistently 
simple, frugal, and temperate throughout his long life. If 
he held up a high standard to others, and enforced it on 
them with hardness, he held up a higher standard to him- 
self, and enforced it on himself more hardly still. Greed, 
and the meanness of greed, were unknown to him." He 
gave his faithful old servant Urbino two thousand crowns, 
so that he might have no need of service. During the 
last illness of Urbino his loving master — for he did not 
leave his protection — nursed him devotedly, sleeping in 
his clothes on a couch at night, that he might be ready to 



WHO ? 



131 



wait on him were his services needed. During the last 
ten years of his life, and under five different Popes, 
Michael Angelo worked at his designs for the great 
church of St. Peter's ; he refused all pay for the labor, 
saying that he did it for the honor of God and his own 
honor. Michael Angelo's friendship with the beautiful, 
high-born, and gifted Vittoria Colonna forms one of the 
few bright pages in the shadowy life of our artist. No 
truer, nobler friendship is recorded. She was a devout 
widow, Marchesa de Pescara ; had been the most loyal of 
wives, and was forty-eight years old and Michael Angelo 
sixty-four when they met. The years that this friendship 
lasted were the happiest of the painter's life. He told 
her, "I was born a rough model, and it was for thee to 
reform and remake me." After his first visit to Rome, 
1496, he executed his colossal statue of David. When in 
his fortieth year he was desired by Pope Julius II. to un- 
dertake the decoration of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. 
Michael Angelo was inexperienced in fresco-painting, and 
he brought artists from Florence to help him in his great 
undertaking, for over the chapel was an enormous vault 
of one hundred and fifty feet in length by fifty feet in 
breadth, which he was desired to cover with a design 
representing the "Fall and Redemption of Man." But 
the painter was unable to bear what seemed to him the 
bungling attempts of his assistants; so dismissing them 
all and destroying their works, he shut himself up and 
worked in solitude and secrecy the great scenes of a 
gigantic drama. In twenty-two months, or as some say, 
three years, including the time spent on the designs, he 
finished the work most gloriously. The ceiling was un- 
covered on All-Saints' day, 15 12, and Michael Angelo 
was then acknowledged to be a painter as well as sculptor. 
For this piece of decorating he received three thousand 
crowns. It was during the retgn of Pope Paul III. that 
he painted on the wall at the upper end of the Sistine 
Chapel his most celebrated painting, " The Last Judg- 
ment." He was at work on it eight years. The picture 
is forty-seven feet high by forty-three wide. It was during 
this period that Michael Angelo began his friendship with 
Vittoria Colonna. He was greater as an architect and 



132 



WHO? 



sculptor than as a painter ; he regarded coloring as of 
secondary importance. He is not known to have executed 
a single picture in oil, and he treated oil- and easel-paint- 
ing generally as works only fit for women or idle men. 

126. Sir Walter Raleigh. — Who first introduced 
tobacco into England? Ans. Sir Walter Raleigh. 

Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the most remarkable men 
that England has produced, was born in the parish of East 
Budleigh, in Devonshire, in 1552. About 1568 he entered 
Oxford ; but he remained at college but a short time, 
leaving in the following year for France, where he joined 
the army. He escaped the massacre of St. Bartholomew 
in August, 1572, by taking refuge with Sir Philip Sidney 
in the house of the English ambassador. In 1579 he 
accompanied his half-brother, Sir Henry Gilbert, in a voy- 
age to Newfoundland. The expedition proved unfortu- 
nate, but it doubtless had an influence in leading him to 
engage in subsequent expeditions, which have made his 
name famous. Young Raleigh was first brought to the 
notice of Queen Elizabeth by audaciously throwing a 
beautiful mantle that he wore across a bit of a mud-hole 
that she might not soil her dainty feet by coming in con- 
tact with the earth. It was a piece of bravery that cost him 
his embroidered coat, but won him her friendship for life. 
It is even supposed that at one time he aspired to the hand 
of the Virgin Queen, from the' following incident : On a 
window, where the queen would see it, he wrote this line, 
"Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall." Attracting 
Elizabeth's eye, she replied to it with her "usual good 
sense" (?), " If thy heart fail thee, climb not at all." In 
1584 the queen granted him a patent to discover "such 
remote heathen lands as were not actually possessed by 
any Christian prince as to him might seem good." Soon 
after, two ships were fitted out by Raleigh, which arrived 
on the coast of Carolina in July. The new settlers took 
possession of the country in the name of the Virgin 
Queen, and called it Virginia. In 1585 he projected a 
second voyage, and seven vessels were sent out, which 
arrived at Roanoke, an island in Albemarle Sound. But 
the colonists failed in their object, and on July 27, 1586, 
returned to England, carrying with them for the first 



WHO? 



*33 



time that nauseous weed, tobacco, instead of diamonds 
and gold, as had been expected. In 1594 he matured the 
plan of his first voyage to Guiana, a voyage memorable in 
his history, as it eventually was the cause of his destruc- 
tion. This expedition he attended in person, and on re- 
turning to England in the summer of 1595 published a 
work entitled " Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beau- 
tiful Empire of Guiana." His fortune fell with the death 
of the queen. Three months after James I. came to the 
throne he brought a charge of high treason against Ra- 
leigh, of conspiring to dethrone the king, of exciting se- 
dition, and of endeavoring to establish popery by the aid 
of foreign powers. After a trial, perhaps the most dis- 
graceful in English jurisprudence, he was condemned to 
lose his head. He was reprieved afterwards by the king, 
but his estates were taken from him, and he was sent to 
the Tower for twelve years. Here in the dark dungeon of 
the Tower he employed his time in composing the great 
work on which his literary fame rests, "The History of 
the World. ' ' In the year 1 6 1 5 he was liberated by James, 
who wanted him to plan and conduct an expedition to 
Guiana, and in 161 7 he sailed with twelve ships. This 
expedition failed, and Sir Walter's death was determined 
upon. He was arrested on the old sentence, there being 
no new ones against him, and was beheaded on the 29th 
of October, 1618. He died with the same dauntless reso- 
lution that he had displayed throughout his life. 

127. Cleopatra. — Who dissolved pearls in wine, being 
herself dissolved in love ? Ans. Cleopatra. 

Cleopatra was the last sovereign of Egypt. With the 
death of this queen ended the family of the Lagidse, after 
having ruled Egypt about two hundred and ninety-four 
years. Ptolemy Dionysius was thirteen years old at the 
time of his father's death, by whose will he was nominated 
to the succession on condition of his marrying his sister 
Cleopatra, then seventeen years of age. The Romans 
were appointed guardians of these children. Cleopatra 
married her brother, and they reigned jointly till dissatis- 
fied with the Roman ministry. She retired to Syria and 
Palestine, where she raised an army and advanced under 
the walls of Pelusium, to give battle to the ministers of 



*34 



WHO? 



her husband. At this moment, Pompey, vanquished at 
Pharsalia, took refuge in Alexandria, and was assassinated 
by order of Ptolemy. Julius Caesar, pursuing his rival, 
arrived soon afterwards and endeavored to compromise 
the differences between the king and queen. For a short 
time they were reconciled ; but Ptolemy, renewing the 
war soon afterwards, was defeated and drowned in the 
Nile. Cleopatra then married her youngest brother, a 
boy only eleven years of age, and already affianced to his 
sister Arsinoe. Him she soon disposed of, poisoning him 
43 B.C., and then assumed the sole government. After 
the arrival of Mark Antony in Egypt, and his mad in- 
fatuation for Cleopatra, her character became still more 
remarkable for corruption. The beauties of her person 
were incomparable ; and in polite learning, in brilliancy 
of wit, and tunefulness of voice in conversation, she was 
as irresistible as in her personal charms. These qualities, 
joined to an extreme profligacy of manners, rendered her 
one of the most dangerous foes to virtue that ever lived. 
When summoned before Mark Antony for the first time, 
her appearance was so splendid and fascinating that the 
Roman warrior rather adored than judged her. Every 
decoration was employed to heighten the most consum- 
mate loveliness of features and gracefulness of motion. 
Holding Antony in the chains of a base passion, she ruled 
him at her pleasure. The profusion of riches displayed 
at her feasts was astonishing. Antony, holding the wealth 
of plundered provinces, with his utmost efforts could not 
equal this lavish queen in the sumptuousness of her enter- 
tainments. It was at one of these feasts that the incident 
mentioned by Pliny occurred. Cleopatra having laid a 
considerable wager that she could expend more than fifty 
thousand pounds upon one repast, caused one of the pearls 
that she wore in her ears, which was valued at the above- 
named sum, to be dissolved in an acid, and then swal- 
lowed it. She was then preparing to melt the other in a 
similar manner when some one diverted her attention, 
and she gave up the design. After the battle of Actium, 
Octavius used every effort to secure the person of the 
queen and to effect the death of Antony by her means. 
He promised her his protection and friendship if she 



WHO ? 



*35 



would kill him. This she peremptorily refused to do, 
but consented to deliver his person and the kingdom of 
Egypt into the enemy's hands. Antony, opening his 
eyes to his .danger and to the perfidy of Cleopatra, at first 
made some faint and ineffectual attempts at resistance, 
and then in his fury attempted to revenge himself on the 
queen. She, however, eluded his purpose by taking flight 
to a monument which she had erected* for her safety, and 
gave out a report that she had killed herself. Upon this 
news, Antony forgot his resentment, his former affection 
rushed into his heart, and his cup of calamity was full. 
He resolved to follow her example and die a Roman 
death. At the moment he had fallen upon his sword the 
news of the queen's death was contradicted, and Antony, 
weltering in his blood and still breathing, consented to 
be carried to see her. After being pulled up to the top 
of the monument where Cleopatra was, by means of ropes 
let down and fastened to him, a scene of anguish and 
affection was presented which can scarcely be conceived. 
He died in her arms, bedewed with her tears, and almost 
stifled with her caresses. Cleopatra, though at length 
taken by Octavius, and secured by the strict guard which 
he placed over her, found an opportunity of poisoning 
herself by means of an asp, which she applied to her arm, 
the sting of which immediately threw her into a fatal 
lethargy. She killed herself rather than be led in chains 
to Rome as an ornament to the triumph of Octavius. On 
her death, Egypt, which had existed a kingdom from im- 
memorial ages, became a province of Rome, 30 years B.C. 

128. The Black Prince. — Who was the young prince 
that carried a king captive to England ? Ans. The Black 
Prince carried King John of France, taken captive in the 
battle of Poitiers. (See 107 in " Who?") 

129. Adrian. — Who was the emperor that knew the 
name of every soldier in his army? Ans. Adrian. 

Adrian was a Roman emperor, and a nephew of Trajan, 
whom he succeeded 117 a.d. He was, in most respects, 
worthy of being his successor, though he did not honestly 
come to the throne. The wife of Trajan forged a will in 
the emperor's name, declaring Adrian his successor. As 
he was supported by the army he ventured to assume the 



i 3 6 WHO? 



government. He was a peaceful sovereign, and, thinking 
the limits of the empire were too extensive, he abandoned 
all the conquests of Trajan, and bounded the eastern 
provinces by the river Euphrates. He was .remarkably- 
expert, however, in military discipline. His memory was 
so retentive that he recollected every incident of his life, 
and knew all the soldiers of his army by name. During 
an expedition of thirteen years, he visited in person all 
the provinces of his empire, and dispensed wherever he 
went the blessings of peace, order, and justice. As a 
sovereign, he rendered important services to his subjects ; 
as a private man, he indulged in envy, vanity, and de- 
traction to a degree that was beneath him. His general 
knowledge, and his taste for the arts, were highly honor- 
able in a sovereign. Among his exploits, it is known that 
when he came to Britain he built a wall of wood and 
earth between the modern towns of Carlisle and New- 
castle, eighty miles in length, to protect the Britons 
from the incursions of the Caledonians. In a war with 
the Jews, he killed in battle five hundred and eighty thou- 
sand of that people, who had become rebellious, and built 
a city on the ruins of Jerusalem, which he called ^Elia 
Capitolina. In performing his long marches with the 
army he generally traveled on foot, and went without any 
covering on his head. None of the Roman emperors ex- 
celled Adrian in variety of endowments. He was highly 
skillful in all the exercises both of mind and body. He 
was an author, orator, mathematician, musician, and 
painter. He was the first emperor who wore a long 
beard, a fashion which he adopted to hide the warts on 
his face. Though he aimed at universal reputation, he 
strictly attended to the duties of his station. His mani- 
fold cares were too much for him, and he broke down 
under them. Adrian died in his seventy-second year, 
139 A.D. 

130. Cincinnatus. — Who was called from the plow 
to be dictator of Rome? Ans. Cincinnatus. 

In 456 B.C. the ^Equi and Volsci invaded Italy, and 
the Romans had recourse to the despotic measure of 
choosing a dictator. Quintus Cincinnatus was appointed. 
He was settled upon as the wisest and bravest man be- 



WHO? j 37 



longing to the commonwealth. He cultivated a small 
farm of four acres with his own hands, and the deputies 
of the senate found him following the plow in one of 
his little fields. After wiping off the dust and dirt with 
which he was covered, he put on his robe, that he had 
directed his wife Racilia to bring him, and went into the 
city with the deputies. His farm was on the opposite 
side of the Tiber, and a handsome barge was waiting to 
take him across the river. His three sons, with his friends 
and several of the senators, were ready to receive him 
when he landed at Rome, and to carry him in a pompous 
procession to the house prepared for him. The very next 
morning he began to fortify the city, and he very soon 
gained a great victory, and made the officers of the enemy 
pass under the yoke. His administration was entirely 
satisfactory to all parties, though the times were extremely 
turbulent. He most probably saved the Roman capital 
from destruction by his wisdom and valor. After having 
rescued a Roman army from destruction, defeated a pow- 
erful enemy, and rendered other signal services to his 
country, he hastened to resign his power at the end of 
sixteen days, though he might have held it six months, 
the term for which dictators were appointed. Many years 
after, Cincinnatus was again chosen dictator in some great 
emergency, and again acted with vigor and wisdom, 
though in his eightieth year. 

131, Antigonus of Judea, — Who is the first king 
that was beheaded ? Am. Antigonus of Judea. 

Plutarch tells us that Mark Antony beheaded him dur- 
ing one of his invasions in that country. According to 
Dion, Antigonus was first tied to a stake and whipped, 
and afterwards his throat was cut. 

132. Cato. — Who stabbed himself, and the wound not 
proving mortal, immediately tore out his own bowels ? 
Am. Cato. 

Cato was a Roman soldier, and flourished about 45 B.C. 
Cato, with two sons of Pompey and Scipio, was in Africa 
fighting, assisted by Juba, King of Mauritania. Thither 
Caesar hastened, and at Thapsus, meeting them, overthrew 
them in battle with little or no loss on his side. Scipio 
in attempting to escape into Spain fell among the enemy 

12* 



138 



WHO? 



and was slain. Cato, confining himself in Utica, tried 
to animate his soldiers against Caesar, but failing in this, 
he resolved to die. His story is deeply tragical, and his 
end displayed the firmness and depravity of his nature. 
After supping cheerfully he came into his bed-chamber, 
where he laid himself down, and with deep attention 
read for some time Plato's Dialogue on the immortality 
of the soul. Soon noticing that his sword had been re- 
moved from the head of his bed, he made inquiries 
respecting it of his domestics ; but while he could gain 
nothing satisfactory from them, his son entered, who had 
caused it to be removed, and, with tears, besought him in 
the most humble and affectionate manner to change his 
resolution. He received a stern reprimand, and desisted 
from his persuasions. His sword being finally handed to 
him, his tranquillity returned, and he cried out, "Now am 
I master of myself!" He then took up Plato again, read 
it twice over, and fell into a profound sleep. Upon 
waking, he made some inquiry of one of his freedmen 
respecting his friends, and then, shutting himself up alone 
in his room, he stabbed himself. The wound did not 
prove immediately mortal, and this extraordinary man,' 
with a most ferocious resolution, tore out his own bowels, 
and died as he had lived, a Stoic. Cato was a great-grand- 
son of Marcus Cato, so celebrated in Roman history as 
the Censor. Cato, with his brother Csepis and two sisters, 
were early left orphans ; so devoted was he to this brother 
that until he was twenty years old they were constantly 
together. Cato was very moral before his marriage, and 
when he thought himself of a fit age to be married he set 
a treaty on foot with Lepida, who had before been con- 
tracted to Metellus Scipio, but upon Scipio's breaking the 
engagement was then at liberty. However, before the 
marriage could take place Scipio repented, and, by his 
agreeable address, succeeded in renewing his old engage- 
ment when he found there was a prospect of another win- 
ning his flower. Provoked at this ill treatment, Cato was 
desirous to go to law for the lady, but his friends over- 
ruled him. After this he married Attilia, the daughter 
of Soramis. He was only forty-three years old, accord- 
ing to Plutarch, when he died. He was called Cato the 



WHO? 



T 39 



Younger. His daughter was married to Brutus, who killed 
Caesar. 

133. Edmund of England. — Who was called the 
"Ironside"? Ans. Edmund of England. 

Edmund came to the throne in 1016. In the war 
which he carried on with Canute, he was obliged at last 
to divide his kingdom with the Dane. He only survived 
this treaty a month, having been killed by the treachery 
of his brother-in-law, Edric. Edmund was the son of 
Ethelred II., and surnamed "Ironside" from his strength 
and valor. He left two children, but they never came to 
the throne. 

134. Proserpina. — Who was " Queen of the Dead" ? 
Ans. Proserpina. 

Proserpina was the daughter of Ceres, the goddess of 
grain and harvest, by Jupiter, who was father of all the 
gods. The most celebrated event in the life of Ceres is 
the carrying off of her daughter Proserpina by Pluto to 
the infernal regions, and the search of the goddess after 
her throughout the whole world. The account of her ab- 
duction is the following: " Proserpina was in the Nysian 
plain with the ocean-nymphs gathering flowers. Accord- 
ing to some, Venus, Minerva, and Diana were the com- 
panions of their sister on this occasion. She plucked the 
rose, the violet, the crocus, the hyacinth, when she be- 
held a narcissus of surprising size and beauty, having a 
hundred flowers growing from a single root. Uncon- 
scious of the danger she was in, the maiden stretched out 
her hand to seize the wondrous flower, when suddenly the 
wide earth gaped, Pluto arose in his golden chariot, and, 
laying hold of the terrified goddess, carried her off, de- 
spite her cries for aid, but unheard and unseen by gods 
or mortals, save by Hecate, daughter of Perses, who heard 
her as she sat in her cave, and by King Helius (the sun), 
whose eye nothing on earth escapes. So long as the 
goddess beheld the earth and the starry heavens, the 
fishy sea and the rays of the sun, so long she hoped 
to see her mother and the tribes of the gods ; and the 
tops of the mountains and the depths of the sea resounded 
with her divine voice. At length her mother heard, 
and, frantic with grief, inquired for tidings of her lost 



140 



WHO? 



daughter; but neither gods nor men nor birds could 
give her any intelligence. Nine days she wandered over 
the earth with flaming torches in her hands ; on the tenth 
Hecate met her, but could not tell who it was that had 
carried off Proserpina. Together they proceeded to 
Helius, and the sun-god tells Ceres that the ravisher is 
Pluto, who, by the permission of her sire, had carried 
her away to be his queen. Ceres was highly indignant 
to think Jupiter should have given him her beautiful 
daughter after all the goddesses had refused to marry 
Pluto, on account of his deformity and gloomy disposi- 
tion. So incensed, indeed, was she at the conduct of 
Jupiter, that she abandoned the society of the gods and 
came down among men. So changed was she that no 
one recognized her. For a year she would not allow the 
earth to yield any produce ; in vain the oxen drew the 
plow in the field ; in vain was the seed cast into the 
ground : but Ceres would allow no increase while her loved 
daughter was hidden from her. Jupiter begged of her to 
return to Olympus, sending god after god to invite her, 
but with no success. Finding there was no other remedy, 
and that she would not let the earth bring forth till she 
had seen her daughter, Jupiter sent the messenger god 
Mercury to the infernal regions to prevail on Pluto to 
suffer Proserpina to return to the light. This Pluto con- 
sented to do, and, kindly addressing Proserpina, granted 
her permission to return to her mother. The goddess 
instantly sprang up with joy, and heedlessly swallowed a 
grain of pomegranate which he handed to her. Mercury 
conducted his fair charge safe to Eleusis, and delivered 
her into the hand of Ceres. After their joyful meeting 
was over, and Proserpina had given her mother full par- 
ticulars of her abduction, Ceres anxiously inquired of 
her daughter if she had tasted anything while below ; if 
she had not, she would be free to spend her whole time 
with her father and mother; whereas if but one morsel 
had passed her lips, nothing could save her from dwelling 
one-third of the year with her husband ; she should, how- 
ever, live the remainder of the time with her and the 
gods. Proserpina confessed the swallowing of the grain 
of pomegranate, and acknowledged that she would be 



WHO? 



141 



obliged to return to her stern old master, Pluto." The 
common interpretation of Proserpina is death-bearer, 
from a Greek word, meaning "to bear," and another 
one meaning "destruction," "death," hence Proserpina 
is called the "Queen of the Dead."* 

135. Julius Caesar. — Who was called the "Loose- 
girt boy" ? A?is. Julius Caesar. 

Julius Caesar was the son of Caius Caesar, who was de- 
scended from Julius, the son of ^Eneas. In his sixteenth 
year he lost his father; and Sylla, aware of his ambition, 
endeavored to remove him ; his friends, however, inter- 
ceded and obtained his life; but Sylla warned them to be 
upon their guard against that " loose-girt boy," alluding to 
Caesar's manner of wearing his tunic, or coat, loosely girded, 
"for in him," said he, "are many Mariuses." He was 
married to Cornelia, daughter of Cinna, and when Sylla 
found himself master of Rome he tried to persuade Caesar 
to repudiate her, but not being successful, he confiscated her 
dowry. Soon after this, notwithstanding Sylla's enmity, 
he was chosen high-priest, and won many friends by 
his eloquence. He had a wonderful talent as a public 
speaker, and was only second to Cicero. Had he given 
his whole time to it, he might have rivaled him, but he 
preferred the army to the rostrum. After passing through 
different dignities, he was sent governor into Spain ; upon 
his return, being elected consul, he entered into an agree- 
ment with Pompey and Crassus that nothing should be 
done in the state without their joint concurrence. This 
formed the "First Triumvirate," 59 B.C. His first mili- 
tary enterprise was in the siege of Mytilene, under Ther- 
mus, the praetor of Asia, 80 B.C. At this time his bravery 
and talents won him a civic crown. Caesar was reputed 
to be the handsomest man in Rome. He was in person 
slender, tall, and delicate ; his motions were full of grace, 
and he was courteous in address. After his consulship, 
he had the province of Gaul assigned him, which with 
wonderful conduct and bravery he subdued in ten years, 
carrying the terror of his arms also into Germany and 
Britain, till then unknown to the Romans. Pompey now 



* Anthon's Classical Dictionary. 



142 



WHO ? 



became jealous of his power, and induced the senate to 
order him to lay down his arms. He said he would do 
this if Pompey would agree to do the same. Pompey was 
insulted, and without more delay Csesar crossed the Rubi- 
con, the boundary of his province, and led his army to- 
wards Rome, Pompey and all the friends of liberty fleeing 
before him. Having subdued Italy in sixty days, he en- 
tered Rome, and seized upon the money in the public 
treasury ; this he did not use to fill his own purse, but 
distributed among his soldiers and officers. He was con- 
stantly doing for them, and they idolized him in return. 
He always took his share of the danger, and never desired 
any exemption from labor or fatigue. They were not 
so much surprised at his exposing his person to danger, 
because they knew his passion for glory, but they were 
astonished at his patience under toil, so far, to all appear- 
ance, was it above his bodily power. He had a delicate 
constitution, and was subject to violent headaches and 
epileptic fits. He did not, however, make these disorders 
a pretense for indulging himself. On the contrary, he 
sought in war a remedy for his infirmities, trying to 
strengthen his constitution by long marches, by simple 
diet, and by seldom coming under cover. Thus he con- 
tended with his distemper and fortified himself against its 
attacks. When he slept it was commonly upon the march, 
either in a chariot or on a litter, that rest might be no hin- 
drance to business. He was a good horseman in his early 
days, and brought that exercise to such perfection by 
practice that he could sit a horse at full speed with his 
hands behind him. After conquering Italy, he went to 
Spain, where he subdued the partisans of Pompey, under 
Petreius, Afranius, and Varro ; and on his return was 
created dictator and consul. Leaving Rome and going 
in search of Pompey, the two hostile generals met on 
the plains of Pharsalia ; the army of Csesar amounted to 
only twenty-three thousand men, while that of Pompey 
was forty-five thousand. Caesar's superior generalship pre- 
vailed, and he was victorious. Making a generous use 
of his victory, he followed Pompey into Egypt, where he 
heard of his murder, and making the country tributary 
to his power, he hastened to suppress the remainder of 



WHO? i 43 



Pompey's party in Africa and Spain. While in Egypt, 
the brave Caesar was held in the fascinating toils of the 
Egyptian queen, and lingered longer than was consist- 
ent with his character in the arms of the base Cleopatra. 
" She conquered even the conqueror of the world," and 
had by him a son, whom the Alexandrians called Caesarion. 
Triumphing over all his enemies, he was created perpetual 
dictator, received the name of father of his country, and 
governed the people with justice. His engrossing all the 
powers of the state and ruling with absolute authority 
created general disgust ; a conspiracy was therefore formed 
against him by more than sixty senators, the chief of 
whom were Brutus and Cassius; the former his dearest 
friend, whose life he had saved at the battle of Pharsalia, 
the latter his bitterest enemy. He defended himself with 
great presence of mind till he received a wound in the 
thigh from Brutus; as soon as he perceived him among 
the conspirators he gave up at once, saying only, " Et tu, 
Brute f or as Plutarch has it, " And you too, my son !" 
He was stabbed in the senate-house on the 15th of March, 
44 B.C., in the fifty-sixth year of his age. He was cov- 
ered with twenty-three wounds, and fell at the foot of 
Pompey's statue. He was married four times. His first 
wife was Cornelia, daughter of Cinna ; the second one 
we can find no mention of; the third was Pompeia, from 
whom he was divorced for some trifle, saying, " The wife 
of Caesar should be above suspicion;" and the fourth Cal- 
purnia, daughter of Piso. Caesar is one of the most cele- 
brated characters in history, but his distinction cost the 
lives of one million two hundred thousand men. Even 
amidst his military enterprises he found time to be the 
author of many works, none of which remain except 
seven books of Commentaries, or memoirs of his wars; 
these are much admired for their elegance, as well as cor- 
rectness of style. The death of Caesar produced an un- 
heard-of crisis in human affairs. There was no longer 
any tyrant, yet liberty was extinct, for the causes which 
destroyed it kept it from reviving. The senate and the 
people mutually distrusted each other. Mark Antony, a 
man of great military talents, but profligate in the extreme, 
exposed the bleeding body of Caesar in the forum. This 



144 



WHO? 



sight, together with the bloody robe, produced an electric 
shock on the multitude, which was heightened to an ex- 
cessive degree by means of an artful and inflammatory 
harangue delivered by Antony on the occasion. The con- 
spirators were obliged to flee the city in order to save their 
lives. The evening before his death Caesar supped with 
Marcus Lepidus, and signed, according to custom, a num- 
ber of letters while at table. As he was thus employed 
there arose a question, "What kind of death was the best?" 
He answered before any of them, "A sudden one." The 
same night, as he was in bed with his wife, the doors and 
windows of the room flew open at once. Calpurnia, his 
wife, was not awakened by the latter noise, but told him 
in the morning that she dreamed she held him murdered 
in her arms, and begged him not to go to the senate that 
day. This gave him some suspicion and alarm, as he had 
never known Calpurnia to have any of the weakness of 
superstition. He disregarded her entreaties to remain at 
home, and met the fate described above. 

136. James Thomson. — Who wrote the "Castle of 
Indolence" ? A /is. James Thomson. (See 2 in "Who?") 

137. Adrian. — Who was the first emperor who wore a 
long beard ? Ans. Adrian. 

Adrian wore it to cover the warts on his face. (See 
129 in "Who?") 

138. William the Conqueror. — Who made it a 
greater crime to destroy an animal than to kill a man ? 
Ans. William the Conqueror. 

William, Duke of Normandy, was appointed the suc- 
cessor of Edward, the last of the Saxon kings of England. 
Edward had no children, and he wished to defeat the 
views of Harold, a son of the Earl of Godwin, who was 
an aspirant to the throne. On the death of Edward, 
Harold actually took possession of the throne, and ruled 
four years. William determined to secure it as his right- 
ful inheritance, he being a kinsman of Edward. His 
preparations were very formidable, and he was aided in 
this romantic age by many sovereigns, princes, and a vast 
body of nobility from the different kingdoms on the Con- 
tinent. With an army of sixty thousand men he set sail 
for the English coast. Harold, with nearly the same 



WHO ? 



145 



number of soldiers, met him, and was defeated and slain 
in the battle of Hastings. The English army was nearly 
destroyed, while the Normans lost about fifteen thousand 
men. William, from this time styled the Conqueror, soon 
assumed the prerogative of sovereignty, 1066 a.d. The 
princes of the Norman family ruled till the time of 
Henry II., 1154. William's administration of govern- 
ment was marked with ability and, in general, success. In 
consequence of the discontent often manifested by his 
English subjects, he began to treat them too much as a 
conquered people, and the tyranny of his disposition in- 
creased by the commotions in which his policy involved 
him. Oftentimes his measures were arbitrary and cruel. 
He conferred on his Norman followers all the important 
places of the government ; which was not relished by the 
English. He made the Norman language the tongue for 
church service, and also of judicial proceedings. He re- 
served for himself the exclusive privilege of killing game 
throughout the kingdom, and he made it a greater crime 
to destroy an animal than to kill a man. He depopulated 
a tract of country about thirty miles round in order to 
form a forest. William introduced the feudal system ; 
substituted the murderous practice of single combat for 
the trial by jury ; compelled the people to rake up their 
fires and put out their lights at the sound of the curfew 
bell. One useful act of his reign was a survey of all the 
lands and estates of the kingdom, with an estimate of 
their value, an enumeration of every class of inhabitants 
who lived on them, and other important specifications. 
This record is called the Doomsday Book, which is still 
extant. The children of William brought a great deal of 
trouble on him. His eldest son, Robert, attempted to 
wrest Maine from him, and his foreign subjects assisted 
the rebel. The king led against them an army of the 
English, and during the battle was on the point of being 
killed in a rencontre with his son. William was tall, 
majestic, and well-proportioned, and his strength was so 
great that scarcely any one could bend his bow or wield 
his arms. But in the engagement with his son Robert he 
came near losing his life. While contending with the 
forces of that rebel he happened to engage with him in 
g ,13 



146 WHO? 



person. They were mutually unknown to each other, as 
they were concealed by their armor. Both being vigor- 
ous and resolute, a fierce combat ensued. Robert at 
length wounded and dismounted his father, nor did he 
discover who his antagonist was till in that instant, m 
his cry for assistance, William's voice was recognized 
by his son. Struck with remorse and horror, the young 
prince threw himself at his father's feet, implored forgive- 
ness, and at the same time assisted him to mount his own 
horse. William was implacable at first, but, reflecting 
on his son's generosity, he soon became reconciled, and 
invited him into England. While waging a war with 
Philip I. of France, who had aided in the rebellion of 
Robert, he was accidentally killed by a fall from his horse 
in 1087, after a reign of nearly twenty-one years. Wil- 
liam was eminent as a statesman and warrior, and at times 
was capable of generous emotions ; but the prominent 
traits of his character were very unamiable. His pride, 
ambition, austerity and cruelty, both inflicted sufferings 
on his people and robbed his own mind of peace. (See 
82 in ''What?") 

139. Letitia Elizabeth Landon. — Who was " L. 
E. L."? Ans. Letitia Elizabeth Landon. 

Miss Landon, afterwards Mrs. Maclean, well known for 
the pleasing, and at one time highly popular, poetry she 
wrote under her initials " L. E. L.," was born in 1802, 
at Chelsea, near London. Till her fourteenth year her 
time was spent almost equally between town and country ; 
but in 1815 she settled with her father's family at Bromp- 
ton. A near neighbor in that suburb was Mr. Jordan, the 
editor of the "Literary Gazette." Some small pieces 
which she submitted to him were inserted in that journal. 
These were followed by others of a higher strain, and in 
a short time it became the fashion to admire " L. E. L." 
Just as she was emerging into popularity her father died, 
in very straitened circumstances. The duty of supporting 
her family fell upon her, and literature, with which at first 
she had only coquetted, now became the business of her 
life. Besides occasional pieces in verse, she contributed 
largely and regularly in prose to the " Literary Gazette," 
chiefly critical notices of novels and books of poetry and 



WHO? 147 



travel. Her intimate connection with that journal and 
its editor seemed to countenance a false and cruel scandal, 
which gave rise to the most exquisite pain to its victim. 
In 1 82 1 she published her first considerable work, " The 
Fate of Adelaide, a Swiss Romantic Tale; and other 
Poems." This was speedily followed by the " Impro- 
visatrice," the "Troubadour," " The Golden Violet," 
the "Venetian Bracelet," and a good many other efforts 
equally long. At the same time there was hardly a journal 
of any note in which she did not scatter some of the 
waifs and strays of her fancy. In 1831, and during the 
six years following, she edited "Fisher's Scrap Book," an 
annual which, under her care, reached a rare standard 
of excellence as well as popularity. She also found time 
to write three novels, "Ethel Churchill," " Francesca 
Carrara," and "Romance and Reality." In 1838 she 
married George Maclean, governor of Cape Coast Castle. 
Except in so far as her health was delicate, her life after 
marriage was a happy and peaceful one. She had long 
suffered from a complication of nervous diseases, and was 
in the habit of relieving her pain with small doses of prus- 
sic acid. October 15, 1839, she was found dead in her 
room, holding in her hand a phial of her useful medicine, 
of which she had accidentally taken an overdose. The 
circumstances of the case gave rise to vague and cruel 
suspicions, now known to have been utterly groundless. 

140. Patricians and Plebeians. — Who were called 
the Patricians, and who the Plebeians, of Rome ? Ans, 
The Patricians were the nobility, the Plebeians the common 
people. They were not allowed to intermarry till 445 B.C. 

141. Tiberius Gracchus. — Who lost his life by put- 
ting his hand to his head? Ans. Tiberius Gracchus. 

Tiberius was one of the twelve children of the cele- 
brated Cornelia. He was a tribune of the people, and at 
a public meeting he chanced to put his hand to his head, 
and those who wished his downfall — on account of his 
proposing that the money King Attalus of Pergamus left 
the Romans by his will should be divided among the 
poor— immediately said that Tiberius was desirous of a 
crown. In the uproar that followed he lost his life. (See 
152 in "Who?") 



1 48 WHO? 



142. Alfred of England. — Who founded the Uni- 
versity of Oxford ? Ans. Alfred of England. 

Alfred was the son of ^Ethelwulf, and came to the 
throne in 872 a. d. He was only twenty-two years of age 
when he commenced his reign, and continued it twenty- 
nine years. When he came to the throne his kingdom 
was in a miserable condition. By his efforts he succeeded 
in raising it to an eminence and happiness surpassing what 
might have been expected at that period. It was scourged 
and afflicted by anarchy, domestic barbarism, and foreign 
aggression. Alfred's talents, virtues, and character were 
of the highest order, and have justly endeared his name 
and memory to the bosom of every Englishman. The 
institutions which he founded are to this day the glory of 
the British realm. He founded, or revived, the Univer- 
sity of Oxford, patronized learning and the arts, encour- 
aged manufactures and commerce, appropriated a seventh 
of his revenue to restore the ruined cities, castles, palaces, 
and monasteries, divided England into counties and 
hundreds, took a survey of the country, and formed a 
code of laws which, though now lost, is generally deemed 
the origin of the common law. The reign of Alfred was 
signalized by his contest with the Danes. Within the 
space of one year he defeated them in eight battles ; but 
a new irruption of their countrymen forced him to solicit 
a peace, which these pirates frequently interrupted by 
fresh hostilities. At this juncture Alfred was compelled 
to secure his person by retreating into an obscure part of 
the country. Here he continued disguised in the habit 
of a peasant for many months, until the disorders in the 
Danish army offered a fair opportunity for attacking them. 
This he embraced with great effect. Instead of cutting 
them off entirely, as he might have done, he incorporated 
many of them with his English subjects. Alfred having 
noticed the remissness of the enemy, from whose pursuit 
he had secreted himself, ventured at length to quit his 
retirement. With a few of his retainers he had made some 
sudden and partial attacks on the Danes ; but before he 
attempted to assemble his subjects generally in arms he 
was determined to explore the state of the enemy. His 
skill as a harper procured him admission into their camp. 



WHO ? 



149 



Having been introduced to Guthrun, their prince, he 
played before him in his tent. Here he witnessed the 
supineness of the Danes, and, ceasing to fear them, he 
sent private emissaries to the most considerable of his 
friends and summoned them to meet him with their re- 
tainers at a certain place. The English crowded around 
the standard of a monarch whom they so fondly loved, and 
before their ardor could cool he led them vigorously 
against the enemies of their country. 

143. William II. of England. — Who was the king 
that built the Tower of London, Westminster Hall, and 
London Bridge? A?is. William II. of England. 

William II. , surnamed '* Rums," from his red hair, was 
the son of William the Conqueror, and came to the throne 
1087. He was destitute of the few virtues of his father, 
and inherited all his vices. Perfidy, tyranny, and cruelty 
were the chief adornments of his character. After the 
defeat of one conspiracy at the beginning, his reign was 
a series of despotic acts, which conferred neither peace 
nor honor to his country. After a reign of thirteen 
years, he was accidentally shot by Sir Walter Tyrrel with 
an arrow, while hunting in the New Forest. Tyrrel, from 
fear of the consequences, fled to France. The body of 
William, after several days, was found by the country 
people, and conveyed in a cart to Winchester, where it 
was interred. The chief monuments that perpetuate the 
name of William are those mentioned above. 

144. Julius Caesar. — Who said, " The die is cast !" ? 
Ans. Julius Caesar. (See 135 in "Who?") 

Caesar spoke this little phrase in crossing the Rubicon, 
and it has become as familiar to the most of us as a house- 
hold word. The Rubicon was a small river which formed 
the boundary between Italy and Gaul. This boundary was 
sacred to the Romans, as they had solemnly devoted it to 
the infernal gods, and had branded as guilty of sacrilege 
and parricide any person who should presume to cross 
the Rubicon with an army, a legion, or even a single 
cohort. It is not to be wondered then that Caesar 
paused, as if the dreadfulness of the act awed him, before 
he dared plunge into the river and order his army to fol- 
low him. 

13* 



15° 



WHO? 



145. Xenophon. — Who was called the "Bee of 
Greece" ? Ans. Xenophon. 

Xenophon was an Athenian. He was bred in the 
school of Socrates, and won great literary as well as mil- 
itary and philosophical distinction. He served in the 
army of Cyrus the Younger, and chiefly superintended 
the retreat of the ten thousand after the battle of Cunaxa. 
He afterwards followed the fortunes of Agesilaus, and 
acquired riches in his expeditions. In his subsequent re- 
tirement he composed and wrote for the information of 
posterity. He died at Corinth in his ninetieth year, 359 
B.C. He continued the history of Thucydides, wrote a 
life of Cyrus the Great, and collected memorabilise of 
Socrates. The simplicity and elegance of Xenophon's 
style have procured him the names of the Athenian Muse 
and of the Bee of Greece. (See 152 in "What?") 

146. Generals of the Punic Wars. — Who were the 
principal generals that fought in the Punic wars? Ans. 
In the first Punic war Regulus was the Roman general 
and Hamilcar the Carthaginian general. In the second, 
Scipio Africanus the Roman general and Hannibal, son 
of Hamilcar, the Carthaginian general. In the third, 
Scipio ^Emilianus was the Roman general and Asdrubal 
the Carthaginian general. 

147. Lapidaries. — Who are the most famous lapida- 
ries in the world? Ans. The Dutch. 

So universally is this recognized that workmen were 
sent for from Amsterdam to go to London to cut the 
great Koh-i-noor. 

148. Numa. — Who was repeatedly urged to accept the 
crown of Rome before he consented? Ans. Numa. 

Numa was the second king of Rome, coming to the 
throne after Romulus was killed, 715 B.C. He was called 
Numa Pompilius. Numa was a Sabine, and the wisest 
and best of the Roman kings. When the throne was 
offered to Numa he wished to decline it, and it was not 
till his friends repeatedly urged him to accept it that he 
gave up his own wishes to theirs, and for the good of his 
country consented to be king of Rome. He was a wise 
and virtuous man, and before his elevation to the throne 
lived happily in privacy. He proved an excellent mon- 



WHO 



151 



arch, and reigned forty-three years in profound peace, 
inspiring his subjects with the love of wisdom and virtue. 
He multiplied the national gods, built temples, and insti- 
tuted different classes of priests and a great variety of 
religious ceremonies. (See 94 in "What?"') 

149. Benjamin West. — Who called tne statue of 
Apollo Belvedere "a. Mohawk warrior"? Ans. Benja- 
min West. 

Benjamin West was born at Springfield, in Pennsyl- 
vania, 1738. His family were descended from English 
settlers and farmers, and were Quakers by persuasion. 
Reared in a sect which abjured painting as a worldly and 
sensual art, the lad's promptings to the practice of paint- 
ing had no outer aid, and were pursued in spite of the 
remonstrances and admonitions of the Friends, though 
it does not appear that his parents opposed the exercise 
of the gift which he had received. It is said that some 
Indians who had imparted to him the secrets of the mix- 
ture of their war-paint were his first teachers, and to their 
red and yellow his mother added indigo, and his brush 
he made from hairs cut from the cat's tail. A council 
of neighboring Quakers, called together to decide on the 
question of young West's infringement of the rules of 
the sect, agreed wisely and reverently that God would not 
bestow faculties and forbid their employment, and gave 
West permission to follow his loved art. We are told 
that after the conference "the women rose and kissed 
him, the men one by one laid their hands on his head, — 
a solemn benediction which he never forgot." Having 
studied under a painter named Williams, West tried por- 
trait-painting, first in Philadelphia, where he had an 
obscure lodging in Strawberry Alley, and painted por- 
traits at a guinea a head ; and here he painted signs, too, 
for a few shillings when the portrait-sitters were slow in 
coming.* Afterwards his aspirations led him to New York. 
He was then but twenty years of age, and two years later 
a friend sending out a ship laden with grain to the starv- 
ing Italians, offered West a passage on her to Leghorn. 
This was an opportunity not to be lost, and he sailed for 

* Harper's Monthly, August, 1876. 



152 WHO? 



Italy, where he studied three years. He left behind him 
his sweetheart, Miss Betty Shewell, who belonged to one 
of the old aristocratic Philadelphia families, who were bit- 
terly opposed to her affection for the poor young artist. 
Her brother locked her in her room to keep her from his 
(Benjamin's) sight; but, as in many a case before, lock 
and key were not strong enough to keep two such hearts 
apart, and they had one last interview before West sailed. 
Miss Shewell then promised to be true to him and come 
to him at a moment's warning, should he ever earn enough 
to justify her in so doing. When he visited England on 
his way home to America, he found on his arrival in Lon- 
don that his prospects were so promising that he concluded 
to make that his home, and then he sent for the fair girl, 
who was as good as her word and went to him. West 
desired his father to ask for her hand and to accompany 
her to England, but the brother was still resolved not to 
allow her to marry the painter, although he was then estab- 
lished as first favorite with George III. at Hampton Court. 
This made no difference with the proud and fiery brother, 
who again put Miss Betty under lock and key, which the 
second time proved too weak by far to hold a brave 
woman bent on joining her lover. West had made all 
necessary arrangements, and the ship was then in the 
harbor that was to carry to him his bride. The day ar- 
rived for her departure, and Dr. Franklin appeared on the 
tapis as the good angel. With Bishop White, then a lad 
of eighteen, and Francis Hopkinson he went to the ship's 
captain and arranged with him to delay starting until 
night, but to be ready to weigh anchor at a moment's 
warning. Old Mr. West was then taken on board, and 
at midnight Franklin, young White, and Hopkinson re- 
paired to Stephen Shewell' s residence, fastened a rope- 
ladder to Miss Betty's window, held it while she de- 
scended, and conducted her safely to the ship, which set 
sail as soon as she was on board. They were married as 
soon as she reached the English shore, and lived long and 
happily together. After the birth of their first child the 
proud father, then an eminent and celebrated artist, 
painted the portraits of his two loved ones, the mother 
holding her child in her arms, and sent it as a peace- 



WHO? 



153 



offering to the indignant brother. He would not even 
look at the beautiful picture, much less allow it a place 
on his walls, so it was consigned to the garret, where it 
remained till after his death. Neither West nor his wife 
ever returned to this country. The Archbishop of York 
presented West to the king, George III., who took a vio- 
lent fancy to the young man, quiet, steady, and domestic 
as the king himself. George's not very intellectual or 
artistic taste imagined that he had discovered, with all 
the glory of the discovery, a great genius. Even the 
American war did not shake the king's fidelity to his 
protege. For a period of thirty years West received from 
royal commissions sums at the rate of a thousand pounds 
a year, then considered a large income to be derived from 
art. This exclusive patronage was not beneficial to West 
as an artist, though as a man he remained the simple, un- 
pretending, kindly spirit that he had come to England. 
He soon renounced portrait-painting for historical and 
religious subjects, but owing to the constant demands 
made on his imagination, together with the absence of 
any stimulating competition or anxiety with regard to 
worldly success, his invention became wearisomely dull 
and tame. One of West's- most striking pictures is the 
"Death of General Wolfe," where he introduced his old 
friends the red Indians. These were strange, picturesque 
beings to English eyes. Later, when left more to himself 
after the king's illness, he painted "Christ Healing the 
Sick" and "Death on the Pale Horse." His "Christ 
Rejected," painted in 1814, is in the Philadelphia Acad- 
emy of Fine Arts, as is also his " Death on the Pale 
Horse." West was one of the first thirty-six members 
of the "Royal Academy" of London, and succeeded Sir 
Joshua Reynolds as president, retaining the office till his 
death, at the age of eighty-two years, in 1820. 

150. Oliver Cromwell. — Who refused because he 
dared not accept the crown of England? Ans. Oliver 
Cromwell. 

Oliver Cromwell, lord protector of the English com- 
monwealth, was born at Huntingdon, April 25, 1599, and 
died at the palace of Whitehall, September 3, 1658. His 
family belonged to the class of English gentry, and his 

G* 



154 



WHO? 



social position was well described by himself when he 
said, " I was by birth a gentleman, neither living in any 
considerable height nor yet in obscurity." The Crom- 
wells were connected with the St. Johns, the Hampdens, 
and other eminent English historical families. The great- 
grandfather of Oliver was Sir Richard Williams, a nephew 
of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, whose name he 
took. His grandfather was Sir Henry Cromwell, who 
had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and who was 
famous for his charities. Robert Cromwell, a younger 
son of Sir Henry's, married a daughter of William Stew- 
ard, of Ely, who was descended from the youngest son 
of Alexander, lord steward of Scotland, founder of the 
House of Stuart. This lady and Charles I. were eighth 
cousins, and her son Oliver was three generations nearer 
to Alexander than was the king whom he supplanted. The 
income of Cromwell's parents was three hundred and sixty 
pounds a year, a large sum for those days. Robert Crom- 
well was a justice of the peace, and sat in one of Eliza- 
beth's Parliaments. It is related of Oliver, among many 
anecdotes that have come to light since his greatness, 
that he had a fight when five years old with Prince Charles, 
afterwards Charles L, and flogged him, when the royal 
family were on a visit to his uncle at Hinchinbrook. He 
was a froward boy, much given to robbing orchards and 
to practical jokes. He took to learning by fits and starts, 
preferring to play pranks on his associates rather than to 
study. In 1616 he was sent to Sidney Sussex College, 
Cambridge, where he is represented to have lived a wild 
life ; but as in after-days he showed a fair knowledge of 
Latin, it is to be judged that his studies were not alto- 
gether neglected. After his father's death, in 161 7, he 
left college, and, according to some of his biographers, 
entered upon the course of law at Lincoln's Inn. The 
accounts of his London life are contradictory. One 
represents him associating with the best company, while 
another paints him as a coarse profligate. Cromwell mar- 
ried Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir James Bourchier, on 
the 22d of August, 1620, in St. Giles's Church, Cripple- 
gate, London. This is found in one of the books among 
the list of marriages, and in another book of the same 



WHO ? 



*55 



memorable church is Milton's burial-entry, November 12, 
1674. Cromwell had nine children, five sons and four 
daughters : all but two of the sons lived to maturity. 
Elizabeth Claypole was his favorite daughter, to whom 
he was devoted. She died at Hampton Court, just four 
weeks before her father. She was a brave, graceful, ami- 
able woman, much beloved by all with whom she came in 
contact. It was soon after Cromwell's marriage that his 
mind took that serious turn which subsequently had so 
great an effect on his life. He is said to have given the 
best proof of his sincerity by making restitution to persons 
from whom he had won money. He prayed, preached, 
and exhorted with unction, and assisted those of his brother 
Puritans who needed aid in his neighborhood. He was a 
member of the Parliament which met in 1628, sitting for 
Huntingdon. During the eleven years that followed the 
dissolution of that Parliament, and while Charles I. was 
endeavoring, to establish a despotism over England, Crom- 
well lived either at Huntingdon, at St. Ives, or at Ely 
(where in 1636 he inherited an estate from his uncle, 
Sir Thomas Steward, worth five hundred pounds a year), 
his devotional feelings increasing in depth and strength, 
while his attachment to the country party was deepened 
and confirmed. In 1640 Cromwell was chosen to the 
short Parliament ; and when the second Parliament of 
that year was called, he contested Cambridge with the 
poet Cleaveland, a zealous royalist, and is said to have 
defeated him by one vote. Cromwell was a poor speaker. 
Sir Philip Warwick, who heard him in the first days of the 
session, said he felt his respect for the Commons lessened 
because they hearkened much unto him. So little was he 
then known to some noted men, that on the day he made 
the speech here mentioned Lord Digby asked Hampden 
who the sloven was ; and received for answer, that if there 
ever should be a breach with the king that sloven would 
be the greatest man in England. Cromwell was not 
given to talk, but he was an active party-man, and labored 
with zeal in the common cause. It is said that within the 
first ten months of the Long Parliament he was specially 
appointed to eighteen committees, exclusive of various 
appointments among the knights and burgesses generally 



156 WHO? 



of the eastern counties. The most important matters 
fell within the province of several of these committees. 
He supported the grand remonstrance, and all the other 
measures of the Parliament that were meant to bridle 
the faithless king, Charles I. When the war commenced 
in 1642, the supporters of Charles were called Cavaliers, 
those of the Parliament, Roundheads. From the com- 
mencement of the war Cromwell was the most active of 
all men in the field, which he was the first to enter. The 
cause of the war was an attempt to put down Puritanism 
and to introduce the liturgy of the English church among 
the Scots. The king had been oppressing the people in 
various ways for a long time, and this last endeavor was 
the straw that broke the camel's back. Cromwell con- 
tributed largely of his private means to the cause, and 
seized the plate of Cambridge University, which was to 
have been sent to Charles I., and took the magazine that 
was in the town. His uncle, Sir Oliver, was a royalist, and. 
his nephew, though he treated him personally with con- 
sideration, took from him everything with which he could 
assist the king. He was present at the battle of Edgehill, 
was made a colonel in January, 1643, acted under the Earl 
of Essex, — the Parliamentary lord-general, — and showed 
himself to be a cavalry officer of remarkable capacity and 
resource. From the first he saw that the Parliament could 
not contend against the king's forces unless it should have 
in its service men capable of meeting the royalists on 
some ground of principle; and against the chivalrous 
honor that actuated the better portion of the latter he 
proposed to direct the religious spirit of the Puritans. He 
raised, to this end, a cavalry regiment, one thousand strong, 
which he drilled and exhorted until it became the finest 
body of troops in the world, and was the seed of that army 
which won the cause of the Parliament, and then over- 
threw the Parliament itself. This regiment was composed 
mostly of freeholders or sons of freeholders, and was re- 
cruited from among Cromwell's neighbors. Both friends 
and enemies bear the fullest evidence to the discipline, 
valor, skill in arms, freedom from military vices, and re- 
ligious zeal of these Cromwellian soldiers. Their com- 
mander told them they were to fight the king, and said he 



WHO? 157 



himself would as soon shoot that personage as any other 
whom he should encounter in the hostile ranks. This was 
contrary to the idea and practice of the Parliament, which 
fought the king in his own name ; a fiction which had no 
hold on these brave " Ironsides," who cheered their col- 
onel's words, and even acted in their spirit. Previously 
to each battle it was customary with them, individually, to 
spend some time in prayer. The first two battles — those 
of Edgehill and Newbury — were favorable to the royalists, 
but those of Marston Moor and Naseby terminated in their 
overthrow. On October n, 1643, Sir John Henderson, 
at the head of a superior body of royalist cavalry, came 
up with Cromwell and Fairfax on Winceby Field. An* 
action followed, in which Henderson was defeated, though 
his force was three times as numerous as that of the Par- 
liament. Cromwell had a horse killed under him during 
this engagement, and, while rising, was himself struck 
down ; but sOon recovering, he joined in the battle. Par- 
liament made him lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Ely, 
and he was engaged during the winter in raising funds 
from Peterborough and Ely Cathedrals, and from the Uni- 
versity of Cambridge, which he also reformed, sixty-five 
Fellows being ejected. On February 16, 1644, he was 
appointed one of the committee of both kingdoms, which 
was then constituted the executive authority for the con- 
duct of the war and affairs generally. The campaign of 
1644 placed Cromwell clearly before the country. The 
battle of Marston Moor was fought July 2, and resulted in 
the total defeat of the royalists, the victory being princi- 
pally due to the valor, energy, and coolness of Cromwell 
and his Ironsides. In the following year, June 14, was 
fought the battle of Naseby, which was fatal to the House 
of Stuart. The king commanded in person, and lost two 
thousand in slain and eight thousand in capture. All their 
artillery, many thousand stand of arms, a hundred pair of 
colors, and all the spoil of the king and camp, fell into the 
hands of the victors. The most important capture was 
that of the king's cabinet, which afforded abundant proofs 
of his total insincerity. Cromwell led the pursuit to Har- 
borough, whence he wrote an account of the victory to the 
speaker of the Commons. This letter reached the Com- 

14 



158 WHO? 



mons before that of Fairfax, and that was Cromwell's 
object in writing it so soon. Its tone has been called 
regal, and it was written in the vein of a master. The 
reading of it was the announcement to the Presbyterians 
that power had departed from them. Cromwell followed 
these victories with many more, storming various fortresses 
and castles, which were obliged to surrender to him. No- 
thing like what he had accomplished in less than ten 
months from the time he joined Fairfax at Naseby had 
been seen in England since Edward IV. crushed the Lan- 
castrians at Barnet and Tewkesbury. The whole of Eng- 
land had been subdued, though on the 13th of the pre- 
ceding June the chances were decidedly in favor of the 
king. Had Cromwell died in 1646, he would have been 
entitled to a high place in the list of commanders. In 
original genius for war hardly any man ever surpassed 
him. Yet it was to success in politics that he owed his 
success as a soldier, for if he had not carried the self- 
denying ordinance through Parliament the royal cause 
must have triumphed in 1645. This ordinance forbade 
any member of Parliament from holding either civil or 
military office during the war. This was supported by 
Cromwell with great plainness of speech, showing that 
the want of success was due to the selfish ambition of 
certain members of both houses, who held places and com- 
mands, and who had no wish, therefore, to bring about 
the settlement of a quarrel, the continuance of which 
they found so profitable. The first ordinance failed, but 
a milder one was successful, providing that members of 
Parliament who then held office should be discharged. 
Cromwell was, however, retained, as they could not well 
do without him in the army. After his victory at Naseby, 
Parliament heaped great rewards on him, and he proved 
himself as eminent in the cabinet as he had been in the 
field. Lands of the yearly value of twenty-five hundred 
pounds were conferred on him, taken from the estates of 
the Marquis of Winchester, and from those of the Somer- 
sets and Herberts. It was resolved that the king should 
be recommended to create him a baron. In the mean 
time the king had thrown himself into the hands of the 
Scotch forces, then in England, and had been delivered 



WHO? I59 



up to the English Parliament. The conduct of Cromwell 
for some time after this event is the subject of much dis- 
pute. He is supposed to have stirred up that agitation in 
the army which was directed against the king, and against 
any settlement with him, and which Cromwell is charged 
with only affecting to condemn, though at a later period 
he visited some of the agitators with military punishment. 
The army appear to have formed a just estimate of the 
character of the king. They saw he was not to be trusted, 
and they determined not to trust him, and ultimately they 
determined to punish him for his attacks on the liberties 
of England. That Cromwell had something to do with 
urging on the army to oppose the Parliament is very 
probable, and the army, in order that it might not be sac- 
rificed by the Presbyterians, who controlled the Parlia- 
ment, seized the king's person, which it held until late 
in 1647. If that body had dealt honestly and fairly 
with the army the troubles might have been brought to 
an end in 1647, supposing the king to have been capable 
of dealing candidly with the Parliament. It was the dis- 
pute between the army and the Parliament that encour- 
aged the king so to act as to render a settlement impos- 
sible. Though every one of his schemes had failed, 
though all his armies had been annihilated, though the 
Scotch had delivered him up to the English, and though 
the army of the latter had seized and were holding him, 
he fell into the mistake of supposing he was necessary to 
all of them, and that he could choose as he pleased with 
which party to treat. He set himself to work to outwit 
Cromwell. That the latter entered into a treaty with the 
king, and that he was supported by Fairfax and other dis- 
tinguished soldiers of his party, are indisputable facts. 
The sincerity of Cromwell in this business is doubted by 
many, and that of the king is believed by no one compe- 
tent to form an intelligent judgment. Cromwell's sin- 
cerity cannot be so readily doubted. His object was a free 
polity, government by Parliament, toleration, the dismis- 
sion of the ultra-royalists, and the reinstatement of strict 
legality. That he looked for some individual benefits is 
true. He was to be lord-lieutenant of Ireland, a knight 
of the Garter, and earl of Essex, a title to which one of 



i6o WHO? 



his family might properly aspire, now that the last of its 
Devereaux wearers was in his grave. Had the king ex- 
hibited evidences of honesty Cromwell would have closed 
with him, and would have become the founder of a line 
of nobles ; but the most complete proofs were obtained by 
him that Charles was practicing deception, and that instead 
of a garter for his knee he intended to decorate his neck 
with a rope. Then it was that Cromwell resolved upon 
the king's destruction. Charles believing his life was in 
danger from the more violent portion of the soldiery left 
Hampton Court in disguise, on the night of November 
ii, 1647, and took refuge at Carisbrooke Castle, in the. 
Isle of Wight. The resolution of the House of Commons, 
not to hold any more treaties with, the king, led to much 
excitement in England and some fighting. Cromwell 
proceeded to Wales, where he put down the royalists with 
a strong hand. The majority of the Scotch were for 
setting up the king again, and they invaded England with 
a large army, which was joined by some English Cavaliers. 
Cromwell defeated them in the battle of Preston, and 
these successes determined the king's fate. Parliament 
declared it treason in a king to levy war against his Parlia- 
ment, and a court — consisting of one hundred and thirty- 
three men — was appointed to try Charles as a tyrant, 
traitor, and murderer. He denied the jurisdiction of 
the court, and refused to plead. He was, nevertheless, 
condemned to suffer death, and was beheaded the third 
day afterwards, in the forty-ninth year of his age and the 
twenty-fourth of his reign. This left Cromwell the most 
powerful man in the kingdom, and he determined to be 
its chief. The government showed itself grateful to the 
victor, and conferred on him an estate of four thousand 
pounds a year, and Hampton Court was prepared for his 
abode. In 1647 ne would have been content with the 
highest honors of a subject could he have relied upon the 
king, but in 165 1 he had put the king to death, had con- 
quered Wales and Ireland, had won three of the greatest 
battles of that age, and had driven the Stuart family from 
all its dominions. With the increase of his influence and 
power his political influence had extended. He aimed at 
the throne, because the kingly office and title were grand 



WHO? 161 



elements of strength. He wished to be a liberal consti- 
tutional monarch, and had he been met in his own spirit 
such a one would he have become. But he encountered 
opposition from many who had thus far acted with him, 
and the soldiery themselves, though they were attached to 
his person, and ready to do most of his work, were sin- 
cerely devoted to republicanism. With their consent he 
might be anything he chose, but king. He was bent on 
being sole ruler, and on December 16, 1653, Cromwell 
was made lord-protector, the supreme legislative authority 
being invested in him and in a parliament, which was 
not to exceed four hundred members for England, thirty 
for Scotland, and thirty for Ireland. The protector was 
to be assisted by a council of state. On September 17, 
1656, Parliament moved that the protector should take 
the title of king, and after much debating and intriguing 
this was carried, as were some other provisions calculated 
to restore the old English polity. Cromwell longed for 
the crown, but he dared not accept it against the deter- 
mined opposition of some of the highest military officers 
and the general sense of the army. He accordingly 
refused the offer. He was newly inaugurated as lord- 
protector with great pomp and solemnity. The brief 
remainder of his life was passed amidst plots, having his 
murder for their ends. He was never popular, either with 
the royalists or republicans, notwithstanding the general 
correctness of his administration. He had reached a 
fearful elevation, and was consequently kept in perpetual 
inquietude. Neither society nor solitude could soothe his 
agitated mind. Fearing assassination, he was constantly 
attended by his guards, and changed the place of his 
sleeping every few nights. Seized at length with a slow 
fever, he died on the afternoon of September 3, 1658, in 
the midst of the most terrible storm of those times, which 
both friends and enemies connected with his death, but 
with different associations. His remains were consigned 
to Henry VII. 's Chapel. After the restoration of the 
Stuarts, the body of Cromwell was disinterred and gib- 
beted at Tyburn, and then buried under the gallows, the 
head being placed on Westminster Hall. His son, Rich- 
ard Cromwell, by Oliver's dying request, succeeded the 

14* 



1 62 WHO? 



latter in the protectorate. He was acknowledged in all 
parts of the empire, but, as he wanted resolution and pos- 
sessed none of those arts which take with the soldiery, he 
soon signed his own abdication, and retired to enjoy a 
private life to extreme old age. 

151. Sylla. — Who called Julius Caesar the " Loose-girt 
boy"? Ans. Sylla. 

Sylla was a Roman general, descended from a noble 
family, but was poor in early life. He was the inveterate 
enemy of Marius, between whom and himself there was 
waged a cruel civil war, that kept the streets of Rome 
weltering in blood. Sylla first entered the army under 
Marius, as quaestor in Numidia. He afterwards had the 
administration of the Mithridatic war; he became im- 
mensely rich. In his wars with Marius he acted the tyrant 
to a terrible extent, and filled Rome with devastation 
and blood. As perpetual dictator he exercised the most 
absolute authority ; but at length, to the surprise of the 
Romans, he abdicated, and died at Puteoli of a most 
loathsome disease, in his sixtieth year, 78 B.C. The cause 
of his abdication has ever remained a mystery. He was 
continually intoxicated during his last sickness. Sylla 
feared Caesar from the first, and told the Romans to 
"beware of that loose-girt boy, for in him were many 
Mariuses." 

152. Gracchi. — Who were the Gracchi ? Ans. Sons 
of Cornelia, daughter of Scipio Africanus, who conquered 
Hannibal. 

Cornelia was left a widow with twelve children, and by 
her training and example made men that Rome was proud 
to honor. (See 141 in "Who?") A lady once came to 
visit her who prided herself on her rich jewels, and after 
showing them to Cornelia asked to see hers in return. 
Cornelia replied she would show hers presently. When 
her sons returned from school she took them in to her 
guest, and said, "Behold, madam, these are my jewels." 
When she died the Romans erected a statue to her 
memory, with this inscription, "Cornelia, mother of the 
Gracchi;" a tribute honorable to the mother and to the 
children. 

153. Mrs. Fanny Crosby. — Who wrote the hymn 



WHO? 163 



"Sweet Hour of Prayer"? Ans. Mrs. Fanny Crosby, 
an American. 

154. Marshal Ney. — Who was called the "Bravest 
of the Brave" ? Ans. Marshal Ney. 

Marshal Ney, born at Sarre-Louis, January 10, 1769, was 
duke of Elchingen, and born in the same year as Napoleon, 
with whose name his own is so closely blended. He en- 
listed in the army at the age of eighteen, and v when the 
revolution of 1789 broke out he was a sub-lieutenant of 
hussars. In 1 794 he was a captain in the army of the Sam- 
bre and Meuse. Kleber caused him to be promoted, and 
intrusted him with several expeditions which proved highly 
successful. He was made a brigadier-general, and on 
April 18, 1797, by a brilliant charge he contributed to 
the victory of Neuwied. A few days later he was cap- 
tured in a skirmish, but was soon exchanged. In 1799, 
at the head of one hundred and fifty men, he surprised 
Mannheim, for which he was made general of division. 
He accompanied Massena to the valley of the Danube, 
and during the battle of Zurich kept the Archduke Charles 
at bay. He approved of the coup d'etat of the 18th 
Brumaire. Under Moreau he was in most of the en- 
gagements of the spring of 1800, and participated in the 
victory of Hohenlinden. During the peace which fol- 
lowed he married, by Napoleon's advice, to whom he was 
devotedly attached, Mile. Anguie, a friend of Hortense 
Beauharnais. He was appointed inspector-general of cav- 
alry, and minister plenipotentiary to Switzerland, and in 
1803 was placed in command of the sixth corps at the 
camp of Boulogne. On the proclamation of the empire 
Ney received the title of marshal. In 1805 he led one 
of the corps of the great army which, under the com- 
mand of the emperor, crossed the Rhine. His generalship 
and bravery at Elchingen won him his title of duke. He 
forced Mack into Ulm, entered Tyrol, routed the Arch- 
duke John, took possession of that province, and seconded 
the operations which resulted in the victory of Austerlitz. 
He determined the triumph of the French at Friedland, 
where he won the title of " Bravest of the Brave." He 
was in command of the right wing, which bore the brunt 
of the battle, and stormed the town. Napoleon as he 



1 64 WHO? 



watched him passing unterrified through a shower of balls, 
exclaimed, "That man is a lion," and henceforth the army 
styled him " Le Brave dcs Braves." In 1808 he was sent 
to the Peninsula, but Napoleon suspected his fidelity and 
recalled him. During the terrible retreat from Moscow 
he was separated from the army for several days, but re- 
appeared with his corps greatly reduced, having defeated 
all the Russian troops that opposed him. When Napoleon 
and Murat had left the army, Ney saved all that could 
be saved from the wreck. He subsequently worked night 
and day to reorganize the army, and he was conspicuous 
at Lutzen, Dresden, and Leipsic ; and when the French 
army evacuated Germany, he commanded the rear-guard. 
When France was invaded in 181 4, he fought the battles 
of Brienne, Craonne, and Chalons-sur-Marne. When Na- 
poleon abdicated, April 11,1814, Ney flew to Louis XVIII., 
who made him a peer of France, chief of nearly the whole 
French cavalry, and commander of the sixth military dis- 
trict. When Napoleon landed at Cannes, Ney promised 
Louis under oath that he would bring him "a prisoner 
in an iron cage." But when he heard of the enthusiastic 
reception of Napoleon at Lyons, when he saw his old 
companions flocking around the emperor, when his own 
troops called upon him to lead them to their chief, he 
yielded to the impulse of the moment, proclaimed Napo- 
leon the only legitimate sovereign of France, joined him 
at Auxerre, and with him entered Paris, March 20, 1815. 
He led the right wing in the march to Belgium, fought all 
day at Quatre Bras, and in the battle of Waterloo displayed 
the utmost energy and bravery in the attack upon La 
Haie Sainte, having five horses killed under him. In the 
Chamber of Peers, June 22, he declared that all was lost, 
and the country could only be saved by negotiation. He 
was not employed by the provisional government ; and 
the king on his return issued against him and several 
others, on July 24, a decree of proscription. Ney escaped 
to Auvergne, but was arrested in August, brought to Paris, 
tried, and sentenced to be shot on the 6th of December. 
On the following morning, after taking farewell of his 
wife and his four sons, he was marched to the end of the 
Luxembourg garden ; there, placing himself in front of 



WHO? 165 



the troops who were to shoot him, and pressing his right 
hand to his heart, he cried, "Vive la France! Fellow- 
soldiers, fire here!" He was instantly killed. He was 
buried in " Pere La Chaise." His " Memoirs" (2 vols., 
8vo) were published by his widow and sons. (See 172 
in " What?") 

155. Croesus. — Who was the richest man of ancient 
times? Ans. Croesus, last king of Lydia. 

Crcesus came to the throne in 560 B.C., and was so rich 
that he became celebrated for his wealth, though he did 
nothing worthy of note. His kingdom was conquered by 
Cyrus. After Crcesus was taken prisoner by Cyrus he was 
condemned by the conqueror to be burnt alive. When 
the unhappy prince was led to the funeral pile, he called, 
" Solon! Solon! Solon!" three times. Cyrus immedi- 
ately asked why he pronounced that famous philosopher's 
name with so much vehemence in that extremity. Crce- 
sus replied that the observation of Solon, "That no mor- 
tal could be esteemed happy till the end of life," had 
forcibly occurred to him. Cyrus was struck with the re- 
mark, and, as if in anticipation of his own tragical end, 
ordered the Lydian king to be taken from the pile, and 
ever after treated him with honor and respect. 

156. Robespierre. — Who was called the "king of 
blood"? Ans. Robespierre. 

Robespierre was born at Arras, May 6, 1758, " of poor 
but respectable parents." He was educated at the expense 
of the bishop of the parish, but afterwards renounced all 
religion as childish. When he went to Paris there was noth- 
ing to recommend him ; he was a poor speaker, compared 
to the excited men of the day ; talked bad French ; and 
when he spoke at all, had all the obstinacy and determina- 
tion of a man whose mind was made up, and who did not in- 
tend to change. He would sit biting his nails and smiling 
sardonically at what was said till his turn came, then 
he would ask sarcastically what a republic meant. He 
was incapable of friendship, and insensible to kindness ; 
turned on those who had done him the greatest deeds 
of friendship without a thought of pity, as when he sent 
Madame Roland to the scaffold, forgetting how she had 
offered him shelter in her house when he was obliged to 



1 66 WHO? 



secrete himself after the massacre of the Champ de Mars. 
Robespierre was small, feeble, and angular in figure, with 
an ugly face, heavy brows, sharp eyes sunk deep within 
the forehead, yet glaring forth with a terrible fire ; a 
small, sharp, impetuous nose ; a large, thin-lipped mouth, 
without passion, or any token of sympathy or affection, 
and with a sneer grafted there from youth upward ; and a 
strong selfish determination that seemed to ask all earth 
and hell for its own, — for of heaven it had no ambition. 
Such was the man who led the front during those terrible 
days of the "reign of terror" in France.* (See 5 in 
"When?") 

157. Varro. — Who was the most learned of the Ro- 
mans? Ans. Varro. 

Varro wrote between three hundred and five hundred 
volumes, which are all lost except a treatise, " De Re 
Rustica," and another, " De Lingua Latina." The latter 
he wrote in his eightieth year, and dedicated to Cicero, 
with whom he lived on terms of the greatest intimacy. 
The only service which he performed for Caesar — he had 
served under Pompey, and commanded the Greek ships — 
was that of arranging the books which the dictator had 
himself procured, or which had been acquired by those 
who had preceded him in the management of public 
affairs. The greater part of Varro's time was passed in 
the various villas which he possessed in Italy. After the 
assassination of Caesar, his principal villa, near the town of 
Casinum, in the territory of the Volsci, was forcibly seized 
by Mark Antony, along with almost his entire wealth. 
His name was also placed in the list of the proscribed, 
although he was an old man of the age of seventy. Varro 
himself escaped, but he was unable to save his valuable 
library, the loss of which greatly grieved him. His eru- 
dition and extent of information were matters of wonder 
to Cicero and St. Augustine. He died in his ninetieth 
year, 28 B.C. 

158. Thomas Moore. — Who was "Thomas Brown 
the Younger" ? Ans. Thomas Moore. 

Thomas Moore, in 1812, had published his "Inter- 
cepted Letters, or the Two-Penny Post-Bag, " under the 



* Queens of Society. 



WHO? 167 



name of " Thomas Brown the Younger." This was fol- 
lowed by the "Fudge Family in Paris" and "Fables for 
the Holy Alliance." They were all satires upon the pass- 
ing topics of the day. (See 55 in " Who ?") 

159. Laocoon. — Who was Laocoon ? Ans. He was 
the son of Priam, King of Troy, and priest of Apollo 
during the Trojan war. 

While Laocoon, in the exercise of his sacerdotal func- 
tions, was offering a bullock to render Neptune propitious 
to the Trojans, two enormous serpents issued from the 
sea, and having first destroyed his two sons, whom he 
endeavored vainly to save, attacked Laocoon himself, and 
winding themselves around his body, crushed him to 
death in their folds. An enduring celebrity has been 
gained for the story of Laocoon, from its forming the 
subject of one of the most celebrated and remarkable 
groups of sculpture that the world has ever seen. It rep- 
resents the agonized father and his youthful sons, one on 
each side of him, writhing and expiring in the compli- 
cated folds of the serpents. The figures are nude, the 
drapery that is introduced being only used to support and 
fill up the composition. This superb work of art origi- 
nally decorated the baths of Titus, among the ruins of 
which it was found in 1504. The right arm of Laocoon 
is a restoration, but so ably done, though only in plaster, 
that the deficiency is said to be scarcely a blemish. It 
is not certain what modern artist has the merit of this 
restoration, though it is most generally conceded that the 
arm which it now bears is the work of Michael Angelo, 
who was charged with the task of adding a marble one; 
he made this plaster model, and gave up, in a fit of de- 
spair, being able to accomplish what he thought worthy of 
the wonderful group. Pliny gives the names of the great 
sculptors of the Laocoon as being Agesander, Polydorus, 
and Athenodorus, natives of Rhodes. It is supposed by 
some that Agesander was the father of Polydorus and 
Athenodorus, and that he, the father, executed the figure 
of Laocoon, while his two sons did the remaining two 
figures.* It is now preserved in the museum of the Vat- 
ican, in Rome. 



* Anthon's Classical Dictionary. 



1 68 WHO? 



160. Sir Walter Raleigh. — Who introduced oranges 
into England? Ans. Sir Walter Raleigh. (See 126 in 
''Who?") 

161. Henry Mackenzie. — Who was called the "Ad- 
dison of the North" ? Ans. Henry Mackenzie. 

Henry Mackenzie was the son of Dr. Joshua Mackenzie, 
an eminent physician of Edinburgh, and was born in that 
city in 1745. After being educated at the High School 
and University of Edinburgh, Mr. Mackenzie engaged in 
the study of the law, and became an attorney in the court 
of the exchequer in that city, in the latter part of the 
year 1766. In 1771 appeared anonymously the work for 
which he is chiefly celebrated, entitled "The Man of 
Feeling." It rose immediately to great popularity, and 
was followed a few years later by "The Man of the 
World," which, though somewhat inferior to the former, 
breathes the same tone of exquisite sensibility. In "The 
Man of Feeling" Mackenzie paints his hero as constantly 
obedient to every emotion of his moral nature ; in " The 
Man of the World," on the contrary, he exhibits a person 
rushing headlong into vice and ruin, and spreading misery 
all around him, in the vain attempt to grasp at happiness 
in defiance of the moral sense. In 1778 he became a 
member of a new literary club in Edinburgh, and sug- 
gested the institution of a new literary paper, similar to 
the "Spectator." These papers were published under the 
title of "The Mirror," and were issued weekly. Mr. 
Mackenzie was the editor. They were afterwards repub- 
lished with the names of the authors, in three duodecimo 
volumes. "The Lounger" succeeded "The Mirror"; 
it was a periodical of similar character, to which our 
author contributed the most valuable papers; they are 
distinguished from all the rest by the sweetness and beauty 
of style, and tenderness of feeling, which form the pecu- 
liar character of his writings. He was the first to appre- 
ciate the genius of Burns, in the "Lounger," No. 97, in 
a review of his poems, then recently published, by which 
the poet was brought into public notice and prevented 
from leaving his country and going to the West Indies, 
as he intended. Mackenzie tried his hand at dramas, 
but they were never successful on the stage. In private 



WHO? 169 



life he was generous, and always ready with a willing hand 
to assist friends who needed his wisdom and counsel. He 
was quite a wit in conversation. He died in Edinburgh, 
in his eighty -sixth year, from no disease but exhaustion 
of vital force, January 14, 1831. 

162. Thomas Aquinas. — Who was called the "An- 
gelic Doctor" ? Ans. Thomas Aquinas. 

Thomas Aquinas, known as the "Angelic Doctor," 
the most famous of the mediaeval schoolmen and divines, 
was born about 1225, and died 1274. He was of a noble 
family, descended from the kings of Aragon and Sicily. 
His mother so strongly opposed his entering ecclesiastical 
life that she confined him two years in her castle. He 
escaped from her custody, and found means of improving 
himself by study, and it was not long before he appeared 
in Paris reading public lectures to an applauding audience. 
On his return to Italy he became divinity professor to 
several universities, and at last settled at Naples, where he 
led a devout and chaste life. Gregory X. invited him to 
the Council of Lyons to read the book which he had 
written against the Greeks. He died on his way to join 
the Pope, near Terracina, in his fiftieth year. Aquinas left 
a number of books, mostly on theological subjects, which 
prove him to have been a man of extensive erudition. 
There is, however, in his writings very little of sound, 
useful, or experimental views. (See 176 in " Who ?") 

163. Charles Perrault. — Who wrote the tale of 
"Blue Beard" ? Ans. Charles Perrault, a Frenchman. 

164. Plato. — Who was called the "Athenian Bee"? 
Ans. Plato. (See 74 in "What?") 

165. Cleopatra. — Who was it that by her charms 
"conquered the conqueror of the world ?" Ans. Cleo- 
patra, Queen of Egypt, conquered Julius Caesar. (See 
127 and 135 in "Who?") 

166. Charles XII. of Sweden. — Who was called 
the "Alexander of the North" ? Ans. Charles XII. of 
Sweden. 

Charles XII. came to the throne of Sweden in 1697, 

at the age of fifteen years. He was a competitor of Peter 

the Great, and divided with him the admiration of all 

Europe. He has been ranked with the greatest conquer- 

H 15 



170 



WHO? 



ors of antiquity on account of his heroism of character 
and extraordinary achievements. But he was rather a 
singular than a great man. His success as a warrior for 
a time alarmed and agitated Europe. Soon after his ac- 
cession his dominions were attacked on three sides by 
Russia, Poland, and Denmark, and he, though only a boy 
of seventeen years, successively took the field against these 
powers and signally defeated them. Poland he humbled 
in the dust. A negotiation having been begun by the 
Czar, Charles abruptly terminated it and declared that he 
would negotiate only at Moscow. The rigor of a Russian 
winter prepared his army for the defeat which it so sig- 
nally experienced at Pultowa. After this battle he fled 
into Turkey, where his conduct seemed to be that of a 
maniac rather than of a man in his senses. The war with 
Denmark he dispatched in six weeks; the Danish king 
purchased the safety of his capital and kingdom by mak- 
ing full indemnity to the Duke of Holstein, whose terri- 
tory he had attempted to wrest from him. ' Charles then 
hastened into Ingria, which the Czar had attacked, and at 
the battle of Narva, with eight thousand men, he defeated 
an army of eighty thousand Russians, of whom he took 
thirty thousand prisoners. In his chastisement of Poland 
he satisfied the dictates of the amplest revenge. He re- 
duced Courland and Lithuania, penetrated into the heart 
of the kingdom, and subdued the capitals Warsaw and 
Cracow. He then, by means of the assembled states, 
declared the Polish Augustus deposed, and procured 
Stanislaus, his own dependent, to be elected sovereign 
of Poland. When Charles fled into Turkey he had only 
eighteen hundred men ; he still hoped to dethrone the 
Czar by engaging the Ottoman power against him. After 
many efforts the Sultan was induced to send two hundred 
thousand soldiers against the Russians. But, upon the 
capitulation of Peter's army, peace having been made, 
the Swedish monarch was disappointed, and vented his 
rage against the Turks. He had been hospitably enter- 
tained more than three years, but his arrogance becoming 
insufferable he was ordered to quit the Turkish dominions. 
This order he refused to obey, and proceeded immediately 
to fortify his camp. With only three hundred men he 



WHO ? 



171 



defended himself some time against an army of twenty 
thousand Turks, and only yielded when he was taken by 
the legs and arms and dragged to the tent of the bashaw. 
While Charles remained in Turkey, the Czar and the King 
of Denmark ravaged Sweden on every side. At the same 
time, through the influence of the Czar, Stanislaus had 
been driven from the throne of Poland and Augustus re- 
instated over his own dominions. This state of affairs 
made Charles return to his country in disguise, when he 
immediately conceived the idea of wresting Norway from 
Denmark. His able minister, Grerty, after much persua- 
sion, got him to make peace instead with the Czar and 
unite with him in the attempt to dethrone George I. and 
reinstate James on the throne of Great Britain. These 
measures were agreed upon ; but in the interval of prep- 
aration Charles, still wishing to wrest Norway from the 
Danes, made an attack on that country. In this expedi- 
tion he lost his life. A half-pound ball, discharged from 
a cannon loaded with grape-shot, struck his head while he 
was exposing himself with great temerity to unnecessary 
danger. He expired without a groan the moment he had 
received the blow, but he instinctively grasped the hilt of 
his sword, and was found in that position, so character- 
istic of him. This happened on the nth of December, 
1 718. He left Sweden exhausted and impoverished after 
his useless wars. He was a great admirer of Alexander, 
and said "thirty-two years was long enough to reign 
when a man had conquered kingdoms." No one ever 
had a greater passion for glory than Charles XII. , and 
this is the clue to all those eccentricities and acts of 
daring which have justly entitled him to the epithet of 
"Madman." 

167. Who composed the council of Jupiter? Ans. 
Six gods and six goddesses. The gods were Jupiter, Nep- 
tune, Mercury, Apollo, Mars, and Vulcan. The goddesses 
were Juno, Ceres, Vesta, Minerva, Diana, and Venus. 

1. Jupiter, who was the son of Saturn and Cybele, 
was born at the same birth with Juno, on Mount Ida, in 
Crete. He deposed his father and divided the world be- 
tween himself and his brothers, Neptune and Pluto. He 
gave Neptune the sea and Pluto the infernal regions, re- 



172 



WHO? 



serving for himself the sovereignty of heaven and earth. 
Jupiter was guilty of indulging in the basest lusts, al- 
though he is generally represented as the father of gods 
and men, and as shaking heaven with his nod, and gov- 
erning all things except the Fates by his power as su- 
preme. He is represented as a majestic personage, seated 
on a throne, with a sceptre in one hand and thunderbolts 
in the other, and at his feet an eagle, with extended wings. 

2. Neptune, the brother of Jupiter, was second in 
rank among the gods, and reigned over the sea. Con- 
spiring against Jupiter, he was defeated, banished from 
heaven, and for one year made subject to Laomedon, King 
of Troy, whom he assisted to build the walls of that city. 
He is represented seated in a chariot made of a shell, and 
drawn by dolphins and sea-horses, surrounded by tritons, 
nymphs, and sea-monsters. On his head he wears a 
crown, and in his hand holds a sceptre with three prongs. 

3. Mercury was the son of Jupiter and Maia, and was 
the messenger of the gods. He is represented as a naked 
youth, standing on tiptoe, having a winged cap on his 
head and winged sandals on his feet ; in one hand he 
holds a rod and in the other a purse. 

4. Apollo was the son of Jupiter and Latona, and 
born in the island of Delos. He was the god of music, 
medicine, poetry, divination, fine arts, and archery. For 
his offense- in killing the Cyclops he was banished from 
heaven, and obliged to hire himself as a shepherd to 
Admetus, king of Thessaly, in which employment he re- 
mained nine years. His adventures on earth are repre- 
sented as extraordinary. Among other things he flayed 
Marsyas alive for contending with him in music ; he 
caused Midas to receive a pair of ass's ears for preferring 
Pan's music to his; he turned into a violet the beautiful 
boy Hyacinthus, whom he accidentally killed with a quoit; 
and his mistress, Daphne, he metamorphosed into a laurel. 
He is represented as a tall, beardless youth, with rays 
around his head ; sometimes he holds a lyre in his hands, 
sometimes he has a bow, with a quiver of arrows at his 
back. 

5. Mars was the son of Jupiter and Juno. He was 
the god of war, and patron of all that is bloody, cruel, and 



WHO? 173 



furious. He is represented as an old man, armed and 
standing in a chariot, drawn by two horses, called Flight 
and Terror ; his sister Bellona was his charioteer. Discord 
goes before him in a tattered garment, with a torch, and 
Anger and Clamor follow. 

6. Vulcan was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and the 
god of fire. He was the patron of those who wrought in 
the metallic arts. He was kicked out of heaven by Jupi- 
ter for attempting to deliver his mother from a chain by 
which she was suspended. He continued to descend for 
nine days and nine nights, and landed on the island of 
Lemnos, but was crippled ever after. Vulcan was the ar- 
tificer of heaven ; he forged the thunderbolts of Jupiter, 
also the arms of the gods and demi-gods. Though de- 
formed, squalid, and sooty, he is made the husband of 
Venus and the father of Cupid. He is represented as 
working at a forge. One hand is raising a hammer ready 
to strike, the other holding a thunderbolt with pincers on 
an anvil. An eagle waits to carry it to Jupiter. 

The goddesses were : 1. Juno, styled queen of heaven, 
who was both the sister and wife of Jupiter. In character 
she was haughty, jealous, and inexorable, though the an- 
cients held her in great veneration, inasmuch as she pre- 
sided over power, empire, and riches, and was the special 
protectress of marriage and childbirth. She was lofty, 
graceful, and magnificent in her face and figure and mo- 
tion, and of all the pagan divinities her worship was the 
most solemn and general. She is represented seated on a 
throne, or in a chariot drawn by peacocks, with a dia- 
dem or fillet adorned with gems on her head, and a golden 
sceptre in her hand. Iris, displaying the rich colors of 
the rainbow, is her usual attendant. 

2. Ceres was the daughter of Saturn and Cybele, and 
the goddess of corn and harvest. She was the first who 
taught to cultivate the earth. She led a very licentious 
life. She is represented as a majestic and beautiful 
woman, crowned with ears of corn ; in one hand she 
holds poppies and ears of corn, and in the. other a lighted 
torch ; this latter is to represent her search after her 
daughter Proserpina. (See 134 in "Who?") 

3. Vesta was the goddess of fire, and guardian of 

15* 



174 



WHO ? 



houses and hearths. She always remained a virgin, and 
received the first oblations in sacrifice. She is represented 
in a long, flowing robe, a veil on her head, a lamp in one 
hand and a javelin in the other. 

4. Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, sprang com- 
pletely armed from the head of Jupiter. She was the 
most accomplished of all the goddesses, and the only di- 
vinity that seemed equal to Jupiter. She instructed in 
ship-building, navigation, spinning and weaving. Her 
worship was universally established, but Athens claimed 
her particular attention. She is represented as a majestic 
female, of commanding aspect, armed with a helmet, 
breastplate, shield, and spear. By her side or on her crest 
is an owl, the bird which is sacred to her. 

5. Diana was queen of the woods, and goddess of 
hunting. She devoted herself to perpetual celibacy, and 
had for her attendants eighty nymphs, all of whom ad- 
jured the rites of marriage. Among plants the poppy 
and dittany were sacred to her. She is represented as a 
tall, majestic woman, lightly clad, with a crescent on her 
forehead, a bow in her hand, a quiver on her shoulders, 
her legs bare, and buskins on her feet. 

6. Venus was the daughter of Jupiter and Dione. 
She was the goddess of love and beauty, and some say 
she sprang from the froth of the sea. She was licentious 
in a high degree, and her worship was celebrated with 
the most disgraceful ceremonies. The island of Cyprus 
was her favorite residence. She is represented as a beau- 
tiful woman, elegantly attired, and girt about the waist 
with a cestus, or girdle, that had the power of inspiring 
love. She is mother of Cupid, who married Psyche. 

168. Chaldeans. — Whp were the Chaldeans? Ans. 
They were both the priests and literati of Babylon. 

169. Mary, Queen of Scots. — Who was called the 
"White Queen"? Ans. Mary, Queen of Scots, was 
so called by the French on account of the white mourn- 
ing she wore for her husband, King Francis II. (See 
104 in "What?") 

170. Napoleon Bonaparte. — Who was called the 
"Little Corporal"? Ans. Napoleon Bonaparte. (See 
32 in "What?") 



WHO ? 



*75 



171. Homer. — Who was the "Father of Epic Poetry?" 
Ans. Homer. (See 24 in " Who ?") 

172. Dean Swift. — Who was called the "English 
Rabelais"? Am. Dean Swift. (See 41 in "Who?") 

173. Mary Campbell. — Who was Robert Burns's 
" Highland Mary" ? Am. Mary Campbell. 

She was a pretty girl, to whom Burns was deeply attached ; 
but, unfortunately for him, she died before they were mar- 
ried. It is said that for years, even after his marriage, he 
kept the anniversary of her death in the saddest manner. 
Before parting they swore to be true to one another, and 
exchanged Bibles. The one Burns gave her was in two 
volumes, and is even yet preserved in the monument at 
Alloway. (See 44 in " What?") 

174. Morton. — Who originated the character of " Mrs. 
Grundy"? Am. Morton, in his comedy, "Speed the 
Plough." 

175. Addison. — Who was called "Clio"? Am. 
Addison. (See 53 in "Who?") 

176. Thomas Aquinas. — Who was called the 
"Dumb Ox"? Ans. Thomas Aquinas. 

Aquinas was so called by his fellow-pupils at Cologne, 
on account of his silence and apparent stupidity. (See 
162 in "Who?") 

177. Friedrich Richter. — Who is "Jean Paul"? 
Ans. Friedrich Richter. 

His full name is Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, but he 
is popularly known as "Jean Paul." He is a German 
author, born at Wunsiedel, near Baireuth, on the 21st of 
March, 1763. Died at the latter city November 14, 1825. 
He studied in the gymnasium at Hof and in the University 
of Leipsic, and published his first work in 1783-4. Poverty 
drove him from Leipsic, and during ten years he taught in 
private families. Subsequently he resided at Hof, until 
his mother's death, in 1797, when he returned to Leipsic, 
and in 1798 joined Herder at Weimar. In 1801 he mar- 
ried Karoline Mayer in Berlin, and removed to Meiningen, 
next to Coburg, and in 1804 to Baireuth, where he passed 
the remainder of his life in the enjoyment of a pension 
of one thousand florins. The death of his only son, in 
1820, gave a blow to his health from which he never 



I 7 6 WHO? 



recovered. His writings abound in a bewildering variety 
of playful, witty, pathetic, childlike, and sublime thoughts, 
and are pervaded by a high moral tone ; but his style is 
so incongruous and intricate that Reinhold published in 
t8io a special work to unravel his meaning. His principal 
works are " Hesperus," four volumes, "Das Campan- 
erthal," "Titan," etc. His complete works comprise 
sixty -five volumes. Among the published correspondence 
of Jean Paul are his " Briefe an eine Jugendfreundinn." 
Carlyle was the first, in 1827, to familiarize the English 
with Jean Paul's genius. 

178. Francis Mahony. — Who was "Father Prout" ? 
Ans. Francis Mahony. 

Francis Mahony, a popular Irish author and journalist, 
was born about 1805, and died in Paris in 1866. He 
wrote for " Fraser's Magazine" and for " Bentley's Mis- 
cellany." " Reliques of Father Prout" appeared in 1836. 

179. Peyton Randolph, Esq. — Who was president 
of the first American Congress? Ans. Peyton Randolph, 
Esq. 

Peyton Randolph was a Virginian, and a great worker 
and believer in the freedom of America. 

180. Cowper. — Who wrote the " History of John Gil- 
pin" ? Ans. Cowper. (See 84 in " Who ?") 

181. King Arthur. — Who was called the " Flower of 
Kings" 1 Ans. King Arthur. 

Arthur was the renowned and half- fabulous king of 
ancient Britain. He married the beautiful but false Gui- 
nevere, who was mistress of the celebrated knight, Sir 
Lancelot. All the knights of Arthur's court knew that his 
queen was not true to him, but such was the true, good 
heart of this noble monarch that he never for a moment 
suspected that Guinevere had more than a friendship for 
his favorite knight, Sir Lancelot. (See 141 in "What?") 

182. Duke of "Wellington. — Who was called the 
"Iron Duke"? Ans. Duke of Wellington. 

The Duke of Wellington, celebrated for having defeated 
Napoleon I. at the battle of Waterloo, was born in Dub- 
lin, Ireland, May 1, 1769. It is supposed that the origin 
of the sobriquet " Iron Duke" arose in this way: There 
was an iron steamboat which plied between Liverpool and 



WHO? 1 77 



Dublin, which the owners called " Duke of Wellington." 
After a while the term "Iron Duke" was applied to the 
vessel, and by and by, rather in jest than in earnest, it 
was transferred to the Duke himself. It had no reference 
whatever in the outset to any peculiarity in his disposition, 
though, from the popular belief that he never entertained a 
single generous feeling towards the masses, it is sometimes 
understood as a figurative allusion to his supposed hos- 
tility to the interests of the lower classes. 

183. Le Sage.— Who wrote "Gil Bias"? Ans. Le 
Sage. 

Alain Rene Le Sage was a French author, born at 
Sarzeau, Brittany, May 8, 1668, died in Boulogne, No- 
vember 17, 1747. An only son, and an orphan at four- 
teen years of age, his uncle, to whom he was intrusted, 
sent him to be educated in the Jesuits' college at Vannes, 
and in the mean time expended the little property left to 
his nephew. The young Le Sage became a favorite at 
the college, and after leaving it held an office in the col- 
lection of taxes in Brittany. In 1692 he went to Paris 
to pursue his studies in philosophy and law, made his way 
into the best society, is said to have been offered the hand 
and property of a lady of quality, which he declined, and 
in 1694 married Marie Elizabeth Huyard, the daughter of 
a citizen. He was admitted an advocate, but preferred to 
seek resources in literature, and in 1695 made from a 
Latin version a translation of the letters of Aristsenetus, 
which had little success. There are few traces of him for 
several years, till the Abbe de Lyonne became his patron, 
gave him a pension of six hundred livres, and led him to 
study and admire Spanish literature. He translated three 
plays from Roxas and Lope de Vega, — none of which 
were successful, — and his " Nouvelles Aventures de l'admi- 
rable Don Quichotte," from Avellaneda's continuation of 
Cervantes, were also unnoticed. In 1707 he translated 
from Calderon the comedy of '* Don Cesar Ursin," which 
failed at the Theatre Francais ; but a slight piece of his 
own, entitled " Crispin Rival de son Maitre," had a bril- 
liant success, and gave the first proof of his genius. His 
romance "Le Diable boiteux" (Devil on Two Sticks), a 
satire, the idea of which was borrowed from the Spanish 

H* 



178 WHO? 



of Guevara, appeared in the same year, and immediately 
passed through two editions. He availed himself of his 
experience among the farmers of the revenue in his next 
play, "Turcaret," to attack the corruptions and ignoble 
vices of financiers. This powerful body is said to have 
offered him one hundred thousand livres to suppress it, 
and was able to prevent its representation for more than a 
year. It had a reputation in society before produced on 
the stage, where it was received with the greatest favor, 
though its excellence consists only in its delineations of 
manners. His next work, and that on which his fame 
rests, was the novel, "Gil Bias de Santillane," a series 
of pictures of all classes and conditions of society, and of 
life in Spain under all its aspects. The delicate delinea- 
tions of character, the nervous and effective style, the 
skillful blending of the manifold portraits into one com- 
prehensive picture, are among the merits which have made 
this one of the most popular novels, and it has been -trans- 
lated into all the languages of Europe. A complete edi- 
tion of Le Sage's works appeared in Paris in 1828, in 
twelve volumes. The Spanish Jesuit Isla asserted, what 
there are no facts to confirm, that Gil Bias was originally 
written in Spanish, but was denounced and prohibited by 
the government, when the author fled to France with a 
single copy, which came after his death into the hands of 
Le Sage. 

184. Mrs. Sarah P. Parton. — Who was "Fanny 
Fern"? Ans. Mrs. Sarah P. Parton. 

Mrs. Parton was a sister of N. P. Willis, the American 
poet. She wrote at a very early age, always under the 
nom de plume of Fanny Fern. Her works are "Fern 
Leaves," " Little Ferns," " Fern Leaves, Second Series," 
"Rose Clark," " Folly as it Flies," etc. 

185. William Pitt.— Who was called "The Great 
Commoner"? A?is. William Pitt. 

William Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, was born in 
1708, and died in 1778. Of the-eventful life of this illus- 
trious statesman it would be impossible to give a com- 
plete history. He was a leader in the English House of 
Commons for over thirty years. From the time that he 
delivered his maiden speech in Parliament, on the 29th 



WHO? 



179 



of April, 1736, to the day when he fell senseless in the 
House of Lords, April 7, 1778, while, in his own fervid 
eloquence, he was addressing that body on the state of 
the nation, his whole life is inseparably connected with 
every great event in his country's history. No single in- 
dividual for forty years filled so large a place in the public 
eye. The Americans had no abler defender of their rights 
in revolutionary times, on either side of the Atlantic, than 
this brave, bold man, and they should indeed be grate- 
ful to his memory. With the sentiment, " Our Country, 
Right or Wrong," this great man had no sympathy; for 
he never hesitated to rebuke, in the severest terms, his 
own country when he saw she was in the way of wrong- 
doing. The most interesting relic we have of this great- 
est of statesmen is his "Letters to his Nephew, Thomas 
Pitt, then at Cambridge." Pitt never married. He had 
the misfortune not only of being a public man — for to say 
that is to imply a sacrifice of happiness — but a public man 
only. He would turn neither to marriage, nor to books, 
nor to agriculture, nor even to friendship, for the repose 
of a mind that could not, from insatiable ambition, find 
rest. He died, involved in debt, in terror and grief for 
his country. He is said never to have been in love. At 
twenty-four he had the sagacity, the prudence, the reserve 
of a man of fifty. His excess in wine undermined his 
constitution, but was the source of few comments when 
his companions drank more freely than men in office had 
ever been known to do since the time of Charles II. Un- 
loved he lived, and alone, uncared for, unwept, he died. 
That he was nobly indifferent to money, that he had a 
contempt for everything mean, or venal, or false, was, in 
those days, no ordinary merit. " My country ! oh, my 
country !" were Pitt's last words. 

186. Mrs. Sarah Jane (Clarke) Lippincott. — 
Who is "Grace Greenwood"? Ans. Mrs. Sarah Jane 
(Clarke) Lippincott. 

Mrs. Lippincott is an American, and has written many 
charming descriptions of Washington and Washington 
society. 

187. William Maginn. — Who was "Morgan O'Doh- 
erty" ? Ans. William Maginn. 



i8o WHO. 



William Maginn was born in Cork, Ireland, 1794, and 
died 1842. He was a distinguished periodical writer, 
contributing to "Blackwood" and "Fraser." He was 
one of the interlocutors in John Wilson's " Noctes Am- 
brosianae." (See 10 in "Who?") 

188. Daniel O'Connell.— Who was called "The 
Irish Agitator" ? Ans. Daniel O'Connell. 

O'Connell was born in 1775, and died in 1847. The 
epithet of " The Irish Agitator" was given to him because 
he was the leader of the political movements in Ireland 
for the emancipation of the Roman Catholics from civil 
disabilities, and for the repeal of the Act of Union be- 
tween Great Britain and Ireland, which was passed on the 
2d of July, 1800. He married his cousin, Mary O'Con- 
nell, about 1802. 

189. William T. Adams. — Who is "Oliver Op- 
tic"? Ans. William T. Adams, an American writer of 
juvenile works. 

190. Sir Robert Walpole. — Who was called "The 
Great Corrupter"? Ans. Sir Robert Walpole. 

Sir Robert Walpole was an English statesman, born 
1676, and died 1745. His political opponents gave him 
the name of "The Great Corrupter," as also did the 
libels of his times. 

191. Thomas Moore. — Who was " Thomas Little" ? 
Ans. Thomas Moore. 

Moore published many of his first songs and verses 
under this title, using it in contradistinction to Thomas 
Moore. (See 55 and 72 in "Who?") 

192. Major Charles G. Halpine.— Who was "Pri- 
vate Miles O'Reilly" ? Ans. Major Charles G. Halpine. 

Major Halpine, under the name of O'Reilly, published 
a volume of poems and speeches which attained a great 
popularity. They profess to be the productions of an 
Irish private in the Forty-seventh regiment of New York 
volunteers. 

193. Vespasian. — Who built the Colosseum at Rome? 
Ans. Vespasian. 

Vespasian was a Roman emperor, and came to the 
throne 70 a.d. He encouraged the arts, and was a 
patron of learning. He was particularly kind to Josephus, 
the Jewish historian ; also Pliny and Quintilian were 



WHO? 181 



highly esteemed by him. The Colosseum held eighty 
thousand people seated, and had standing-room for thirty 
thousand more. The gladiators performed here, and Chris- 
tians were thrown to wild beasts in the immense arena, and 
defended themselves as best they could from the assaults 
of the infuriated animals that were let in on them. (See 
218-10 in "Who?") 

194. Cyrus. — Who had his head cut off and thrown 
into a vessel filled with human blood ? Ans. Cyrus. 

Cyrus came to the throne of Persia 559 B.C. Before 
he came to reign over the empire it was of small extent, 
and almost unknown. After being founded by Cyrus itj 
included all of India, Assyria, Media, and Persia, and the 
parts adjoining to the Euxine and Caspian Seas. He is 
represented as a prince of superior character, and ob- 
tained the surname of Great from his heroic actions and 
splendid achievements. The manners of the Persians 
were excellent in those days ; great simplicity of dress and 
food and behavior universally prevailed, so Cyrus was 
plainly and wisely educated, as he was treated like other 
children of his own age. While he was yet a boy his 
mother took him to visit his grandfather, but the pride 
and luxury of the court of Media quite surprised and dis- 
gusted him. Astyages was so charmed with the sensible 
conversation and artless manners of the prince, that he 
loaded him with presents. Cyrus, however, gave them 
all away to the courtiers, according to their merits or the 
services that they had rendered him. Sacas, the cup- 
bearer, he neglected, because he would not let him visit 
his grandfather when he pleased. One day Astyages 
lamented his neglect of so good an officer, when Cyrus 
replied, " Oh, there is no merit in being a good cup- 
bearer ; I can do as well myself." He then took the cup 
and handed it to his mother with great modesty and grace- 
fulness. Astyages admired his skill, but laughingly re- 
marked, "The young waiter has forgotten one thing." 
"What have I forgotten?" asked Cyrus. "To taste the 
wine before you handed it to your mother and me." " I 
did not forget that, but I did not choose to swallow 
poison." "Poison!" exclaimed the king. " Yes, there 
must- be poison in the cup, for they who drink of it some- 

16 



1 82 WHO? 



times grow giddy and sick, and fall down." "Then do 
you never drink in your country ?" "Yes, but we only 
drink to satisfy thirst, and then a little water suffices." 
Cyrus subdued the eastern part of Asia, and made war 
against Croesus, King of Lydia. (See 155 in "Who?") 
He invaded the kingdom of Assyria, and took the city of 
Babylon, by drying the channels of the 'Euphrates and 
marching his troops through the bed of the river while 
the people were celebrating a grand festival. He after- 
wards marched against Tomyris, the queen of the Massa- 
getae, a Scythian nation, and was defeated in a bloody 
battle, 531 B.C. The victorious queen, who had lost her 
son in the previous encounter, was so incensed against 
Cyrus that she cut off his head and threw it into a vessel 
filled with human blood, exclaiming, " Satisfy thyself 
with blood, which thou hast so eagerly desired." 

195. Stephen A. Douglas. — Who was called "The 
Little Giant" ? Ans. Stephen A. Douglas. 

Stephen Arnold Douglas was a distinguished American 
statesman, descended from a Scotch family, and was born 
in Brandon, Vermont, April 23, 1813. He was a fine 
lawyer, but finally devoting himself to politics he passed 
eighteen years in the halls of legislation at Washington. 
Three times he was a Democratic candidate in the presi- 
dential conventions: in 1852, when General Pierce was 
chosen ; in 1856, in Cincinnati, after the sixteenth ballot 
the votes stood 122 for him and 168 for Mr. Buchanan, 
when he generously withdrew his name that his rival 
might receive the required two-thirds vote ; again in 
i860, at Charleston and Baltimore, when he received the 
nomination, though the contest ended in the disruption 
of the Democratic party. He died at Chicago on the 3d 
of June, 1861. He was bitterly opposed to the dissolving 
of the Union, and had he lived he would have been an 
able supporter and defender of the North. He was 
called "the Little Giant," in allusion to the disparity 
between his physical and his intellectual proportions. 

196. Juvenal. — Who is called " last of the Roman 
poets"? Ans. Juvenal. 

Juvenal was born at Aquinum, in Italy, and died in 
the reign of Trajan, 128 a.d., at an advanced age. He 



WHO? 183 



early came to Rome, where he applied himself to decla- 
mation and afterwards to the writing of satires. Sixteen 
of these pieces are extant. In them he is a bold, severe, 
animated reprover of vice, and also displays much humor. 
He, however, defeats his object in a great measure by the 
grossness and indecency of his manner. He has been 
called, with some reason, perhaps, "the last of the Ro- 
mans. ' ' 

197. Christian II. of Norway and Sweden. — 
Who was "the Nero of the North" ? Ans. Christian II. 
of Norway and Sweden. 

Christian II. came to the throne in 15 13 and reigned 
till 1559, when Gustavus Vasa took up arms against him 
and subjugated him. On account of his cruelty and 
treachery he received the above title. 

198. Samuel G. Goodrich. — Who was "Peter Par- 
ley" ? Ans. Samuel G. Goodrich. 

Samuel G. Goodrich was born at Ridgefield, Connec- 
ticut, on the 19th of August, 1793, ano ^ * n eai *ly years 
commenced the publication of historical, geographical, 
and other school-books at Hartford, in his native State. 
Afterwards Peter Parley became so prolific a writer that 
it was no easy task to compute the number of his pub- 
lished works. His original works are "Sketches from a 
Student's Window," "Fireside Education," "The Out- 
cast, and other Poems," "Recollections of a Lifetime," 
etc. He died in 1863. 

199. Gustavus Adolphus. — Who was called "The 
Lion of the North"? Ans. Gustavus Adolphus. 

Adolphus was king of Sweden, and commenced to 
reign in 161 1. He become a hero in early life, and was 
surnamed the Great. In his twelfth year he was encir- 
cled with the laurels of victory. At the age of eighteen 
he was successfully prosecuting a war with Denmark, which 
he concluded in 1613 with an advantageous peace. He 
was equally successful in his wars with the Poles and Rus- 
sians, from whom he took many towns. In his war with 
the Imperialists he defeated their forces in the battle of 
Leipsic, in 1631, and afterwards in that of Lutzen, but in 
the latter he lost his life. Gustavus was the bulwark of 
the Protestant faith during the Thirty Years' war. 



1 84 'WHO? 



200. Louis XIV. of France. — Who was called 
"The Grand Monarch"? Ans. Louis XIV. of France. 

Louis XIV., in the fifth year of his age, ascended the 
throne in 1643, under the regency of Anne of Austria, 
his mother. The talents of this monarch, the vigor of 
his administration, the splendid events of his reign, his 
conquests and reverses, and the flourishing state of litera- 
ture and the arts under his patronage have been themes 
of deep interest with historians. He is often styled by 
the French " Le Grand Monarque." The most con- 
spicuous events of his reign were his war with the Span- 
iards, which commenced a few days after his accession 
under the Duke of Enghien ; the civil commotions called 
La Fronde, which grew out of Mazarin'.s ministry; the 
contention with Holland, in 1672, in which he was op- 
posed by the German emperor and Spain, and in which 
Franche-Comte was conquered and united to France ; the 
revocation of the edict of Nantes ; the league of Augs- 
burg against France, by which war was waged against that 
country by Germany, Spain, England, and Holland, and 
in consequence of which Louis gained peculiar glory : and 
the war of the succession, in which he met with woful re- 
verses from the allied powers under the Duke of Marlbor- 
ough and Prince Eugene. On the death of his minister, 
Mazarin, Louis, at the age of twenty-two, took upon 
himself the entire control of affairs, and by the splendor 
of his projects and the success with which many of them 
were crowned established through the world his reputation 
as an able monarch. This was in 1661. Louis died aged 
seventy-seven, having reigned more than seventy-two years, 
one of the longest reigns on the pages of history, and illus- 
trated by many splendid achievements. He was a great 
patron of literature and the arts, and no species of merit 
was allowed to go unrewarded. All kinds of public works 
were extended and improved, the capital was enlarged 
and beautified, the splendid palace of Versailles erected, 
commerce and manufacture encouraged, and the canal of 
Languedoc constructed. Louis was reckoned the hand- 
somest man in his dominions, and was celebrated for his 
politeness and urbanity. His intellect was vigorous, but 
indifferently cultivated. It was the great fault of Maza- 



WHO? !8 5 



rin, to whom the childhood of Louis was intrusted, that 
he neglected his education. He sought for the young 
monarch no other accomplishments than those Of dancing, 
fencing, and riding, so that when the latter was drawing 
on towards manhood he scarcely knew how to pen an 
epistle. His private life did not correspond with his 
public one, for in the former he was ruled by base and 
unholy passions. His court was a court of mistresses, 
and he was ruled successively by the Duchess of La Val- 
liere, the Marchioness de Montespan, and the famous 
Madame de Maintenon, whom he afterwards married. 
He sought in vain to make the latter his mistress, but 
rinding this impossible, in 1686 he privately married her. 
She exercised over him a powerful influence, which ended 
only with his death. She was a poor widow by name of 
Scarron, whom Montespan induced to nurse the young 
Due cle Maine, whose father was the king. At first Louis 
took the greatest dislike to her, and tried to induce the 
Montespan to procure another nurse for the child. Fi- 
nally the tables were turned, and the beautiful Scarron 
induced the king to reform, to give up the mistress and 
take her for his wife. She changed her name to Madame 
de Maintenon, which she took from an estate which she 
bought with her own or the king's money. She was a 
sharp, clever, fascinating woman, two years the king's 
senior, and ruled not only the king but all France through 
him. Maria Theresa was the queen-wife, and died July 
30, 1683, so the king was free to marry whom he chose. 
By each of his mistresses he had several children, who 
were acknowledged and legitimatized. 

201. Charles XII. of Sweden. — Who was called 
the " Madman of the North"? Ans. Charles XII. of 
Sweden. (See 166 in " Who?") 

202. Donald G. Mitchell.— Who is "Ik Marvel"? 
A??s. Donald G. Mitchell. 

Mr. Mitchell is an American writer, and his chief works 
are "Dream-Life," "Reveries of a Bachelor," etc. 

203. Charles Swain. — Who was called "the Man- 
chester Poet" ? Ans. Charles Swain. 

Charles Swain was born in Manchester, England, in 
1803. His chief productions are " Metrical Essays," 

16* 



1 86 WHO 



"The Mind, and other Poems," "Dryburgh Abbey," a 
poem on the death of Sir Walter Scott, "English Melo- 
dies," etc. 

204. Sir Walter Scott. — Who was called "Wizard 
of the North"? Ans. Sir Walter Scott. (See 3 in 
"Who?") 

205. Socrates. — Who was the greatest of heathen 
moralists? Ans. Socrates. 

Socrates was a native of Athens. He followed the occu- 
pation of his father, which was that of a statuary, for some 
time. The statues of the Graces, admired for their sim- 
plicity and elegance, have been attributed to his hand. 
He was called away from this employment by a friend, 
and philosophy became his study. He appeared like the 
rest of his countrymen in the field of battle, and he fought 
with boldness and intrepidity. His character is more 
conspicuous as a philosopher and moralist than as a war- 
rior. He was fond of labor, bore injuries with patience, 
and acquired that serenity of mind and firmness of coun- 
tenance which the most alarming dangers could never 
destroy or the most sudden calamities alter. Socrates 
had a school in Athens, and was attended by a number of 
illustrious pupils, whom he instructed by his exemplary 
life as well as by his doctrines. He spoke with freedom 
on every subject, religious as well as civil. This inde- 
pendence of spirit, and that visible superiority of mind 
and genius over the rest of his countrymen, created him 
many enemies, and at length they condemned him to 
death, on the false accusation of corrupting the Athenian 
youths, of making innovations in the religion of the 
Greeks, and of ridiculing the gods which the Athenians 
worshiped. His death has thrown a dark stain on the 
Athenian character. He led the mind to a knowledge of 
the Deity, the Creator of the universe, and to the belief 
of future rewards and punishments. He believed in the 
divine origin of dreams and omens, and was a supporter 
of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. When 
he was condemned to die he made a noble and manly de- 
fense in all the consciousness of innocence, but in vain. 
His severe judges would not change their sentence, which 
was that he was to drink the juice of the hemlock, which 



WHO? 187 



killed by its coldness. One of his disciples lamenting 
before him that he should die innocent, his reply was, 
11 Would you have me die guilty?" He continued calmly 
conversing with his friends to the last moment of his life. 
He died in his seventieth year, 401 B.C. From his 
principles, enforced by his example, rose the famous 
sects of Platonists, Stoics, etc. Xantippe was the wife 
of Socrates and a synonym of all that is most repulsive in 
woman. 

206. John Locke. — Who was called "The Glory of 
Theorists" ? Ans. John Locke. 

John Locke was born at Wrington, in Somersetshire, 
England, on the 29th of August, 1632. He was educated 
at Westminster School, and at nineteen entered the Uni- 
versity of Oxford. He applied himself with great dili- 
gence to classical literature, and to the philosophical works 
of Bacon and Descartes. He made choice of medicine 
as a profession, but soon after entering upon the prac- 
tice of it he was obliged to relinquish it on account 
of the weakness of his constitution. In 1665 he made 
the acquaintance of Lord Ashley, afterwards Earl of 
Shaftesbury, and accepted his invitation to reside in his 
house. Here he drew up a constitution for the govern- 
ment of South Carolina, which province had been granted 
by Charles II. to Lord Ashley, with seven others. In 1670 
he commenced his investigations in metaphysical philos- 
ophy and laid the plan of his greatest work, "Essay on 
the Human Understanding." He was engaged nine years 
in this composition. Under the patronage of Lord Ash- 
ley he held a respectable situation under government, and 
at that time wrote several political tracts. The danger 
of prosecution for high treason compelled the Earl of 
Shaftesbury to fly to Holland, where Locke followed him. 
After the death of the earl, Locke still remained in Hol- 
land, for the hostility felt towards his patron was extended 
to him. On the revolution of 1688 he returned with the 
fleet that brought over the Prince of Orange, and then 
accepted the offer of apartments in the house of his friend, 
Sir Francis Masham, in Oates, in Essex, where he resided 
the remainder of his life, devoting it mostly to the study 
of the Scriptures, and died on the 28th of October, 1704. 



1 88 WHO 



John Locke was a Christian, a gentleman, and a scholar. 
What higher praise is it possible to bestow? His other 
works are "Two Treatises on Civil Government," "Let- 
ters on Toleration," "Thoughts on Education," "A Dis- 
course on Miracles," "Narratives, with Notes, on the 
Epistles of St. Paul," etc. 

207. Richard Henry Lee. — Who first made the 
motion in the American Congress for declaring the colo- 
nies " free and independent" ? Ans. Richard Henry Lee. 

Richard Henry Lee was born the 20th of January, 1732, 
in Stratford, Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was 
educated partly at home by a private tutor, and after- 
wards at a school in Yorkshire, England. He returned 
at the age of nineteen, bringing with him a fine knowl- 
edge of Greek and Latin. His father had died two years 
before his return ; but his taste and influence lived in the 
excellent library that he left behind him. In the com- 
pany of these books young Lee passed the formative years 
of his manhood, deeply drinking the principles of Greek 
and Roman freedom, and nourishing a spirit of indepen- 
dence in the writings of Locke and other inspirers of Eng- 
lish liberty. Lee was not bred to the bar, but he instructed 
himself in the knowledge of a lawyer. He knew the con- 
stitutional history of England, the course of her legislation, 
and the rights of her colonies. His habits of study were 
methodical and exact. He qualified himself for public 
business. Lee was a member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, which met in Philadelphia in 1774, and in 1776 was 
one of the members who elected George Washington com- 
mander-in-chief of the American forces. He had fought 
for ten years against the gout with great resolution ; but it 
gained the mastery at last, and put an end to his life in his 
sixty-fourth year, June 19, 1794. He died at his country- 
seat, Chantilly, in Westmoreland, Virginia. 

208. Timarete. — Who is the first female artist upon 
record? Ans. Timarete. 

Timarete was a daughter of Micon, an early painter, 
who flourished about the 80th Olympiad. (See 186 in 
"What?") She finished a picture of the goddess Diana — 
which is the most ancient in Ephesus — for the ornamen- 
tation of the magnificent Temple of Diana in that city. 



WHO? 189 



209. Lord Byron. — Who owned Newstead Abbey? 
Ans. Lord Byron. (See 52 in "Who?") 

210. William Godfrey Leibnitz. — Who spent thir- 
teen years of his life in studying the plan of a universal 
language? Ans. Leibnitz. 

William Godfrey Leibnitz was a statesman, lawyer, and 
poet, though he is most celebrated as a mathematician and 
philosopher. He was strangely wanting in the principles 
of the Baconian philosophy in some respects, yet this 
German scholar enjoyed the singular felicity of being 
esteemed the greatest and most learned man of Europe. 
In civil life he had considerable employment, and attained 
to some distinction. He spent thirteen years in studying 
the plan of a universal language, but he died before he 
had completed the extraordinary design. Leibnitz pro- 
posed characters which, like those in algebra, might not 
only be simple but expressive, and enable men. of all 
nations to converse familiarly together. He died in 171 6, 
of those complicated disorders, the gout, and stone in 
the bladder, aged seventy. In temper, he was passionate ; 
in character, avaricious. At his death such a quantity of 
money was found in his house, hoarded in sacks, that the 
wife of his nephew, who possessed his property, died with 
excess of joy at the sight. 

211. Semiramis. — Who founded Babylon? Ans. 
Semi ram is. 

Babylop was originally built by Nimrod, but Semiramis 
so enlarged and beautified it after she came to the throne 
that she has the credit of founding it anew. It is said 
that in completing Babylon she employed the labors of 
two millions of men. Her principal works were, building 
the walls of the city ; the quays and the bridge ; the lake, 
banks, and canals made for draining the river ; the palace, 
the hanging-gardens, and the Temple of Belus. (See 41 
in " What ?") Semiramis possessed exquisite beauty and 
a heroic soul. It was on these accounts that the Assyrian 
monarch Ninus fell in love with her. It is said that in 
her infancy she was exposed in a desert, and her life pre- 
served^ whole year by doves. She was at length found 
by one of the shepherds of Ninus, who brought her up 
as one of his own children. She finally married Menones, 



190 



WHO 



and was so tenderly beloved by him that when her sov- 
ereign demanded her he could not survive the expected 
loss of one he held so dear, and put an end to his own 
life. Upon the death of her husband Ninus, she assumed 
the government during the nonage of Ninyas, son of Ni- 
nus. She enlarged her dominions by the conquest of a 
large part of Ethiopia. Her greatest and last expedition 
was directed against India. She advanced towards the 
river Indus, and, having prepared boats, attempted to 
cross it with her army. The passage for a long time was 
disputed, but after a bloody battle she put her enemies to 
flight. Upon this she advanced directly into the country, 
leaving sixty thousand men to guard the bridge of boats 
built over the river. As soon as the Indian king thought 
her far enough advanced he faced about. A second en- 
gagement ensued, more bloody than the first. The Assy- 
rians were routed, and Semiramis, after being twice 
wounded, was obliged to fly, and return to her country 
with hardly a third of her army. Some time after, dis- 
covering that her son was plotting against her, she volun- 
tarily abdicated the throne, put the government into his 
hands, and withdrew from public life. She lived sixty- 
two years, of which she reigned forty-two. Her reign is 
placed about 125a B.C. 

212. Sir Walter Scott. — Who lived at Abbotsford ? 
Ans. Sir Walter Scott. (See 3 in " Who?") 

213. Apollonius. — Who was prince of grammarians? 
Ans. Apollonius. 

Apollonius was an Alexandrian, and flourished 240 B.C. 
He was the first who reduced grammar to a system. 

214. Sir William Herschel. — Who discovered the 
planet Uranus? Ans. Sir William Herschel. (See 119 
in "Who?") 

215. Giants. — Who are some of the giants mentioned 
in history? AnS. Charlemagne was seven feet high. (See 
124 in "Who?") Porus, King of India, was seven and 
a half feet high. Porus was conquered by Alexander 
the Great, and when asked by him how he would be 
treated, replied, " Like a king." Alexander was sb much 
pleased with this answer that he restored his kingdom to 
him, and ever afterwards treated him with kindness and 
respect. (See 136 in "What?") Darius, King of Persia, 



WHO ? 



191 



is mentioned as one of the tallest men in the world, at 
the time of his reign, as also one of the handsomest. We 
do not find his height, however, given. 

216. George Washington. — Who was called " The 
American Fabius" ? Ans. George Washington. 

George Washington was the fourth son of Augustine 
Washington, and was born at Bridge's Creek, in West- 
moreland County, Virginia, on the 22d of February, 1732, 
and died at his home in Mount Vernon on the 14th of 
December, 1799. He was of noble descent, Irving tracing 
his family back to the eleventh century. His father mar- 
ried Mary Ball, the belle of the county, by whom he had 
six children. She was his second wife, and outlived him 
forty-six years. George was the oldest son of this union. 
His father possessed large landed estates, and had he lived 
would probably have sent George to England to be edu- 
cated, as was the custom with the wealthy planters, and 
as had already been the case with the eldest son, Law- 
rence, by the previous marriage. The father died in 
April, 1743, and George was left to the guardianship of 
his mother. All that we know of her bears witness to her 
good sense and simplicity, the plainness and sincerity of 
her household virtues. The domestic instruction of Wash- 
ington was of the best and purest. He was not destined to 
be much indebted to schools or school-masters, but was 
receiving at home that Christian training which never lost 
its hold on him in after-life. The many anecdotes con- 
nected with him are too well known to be repeated here. 
Under a private tutor by the name of Williams he was 
taught geometry, trigonometry, and surveying, in which 
he became an adept. He embraced the military profes- 
sion, where he displayed his great talents, particularly his 
wisdom and caution, and showed himself master of mili- 
tary stratagems. He had greatly distinguished himself in 
several expeditions in his native State, before he was called 
to the command of the American army, in the war of the 
Revolution. On June 15, 1775, in his forty-third year, 
he was made commander-in-chief of the entire army. 
Lawrence Washington was fourteen years his senior, and 
lived at Mount Vernon, the name he gave to the estate on 
the Potomac which he inherited from his father. George 



I 9 2 WHO? 



lived with him many years, and was thrown under new 
social influences in the family circles of the Fairfaxes, 
into which family Lawrence had married. This brother's 
health failing him, he passed the winter of 1751 in Bar- 
badoes, George being with him, and keeping, as was his 
usual custom, a journal during their residence there. On 
the death of Lawrence, which occurred the following sum- 
mer at Mount Vernon, the estate was left to a daughter, 
who dying in infancy, the property passed, according to 
the terms of the will, into the possession of George, who 
thus became the owner of this memorable home. On 
January 6, 1759, at twenty-six years of age, George mar- 
ried Mrs. Martha Custis, of the White House, county of 
New Kent. This lady, born in the same year with him- 
self, was in the full bloom of youthful womanhood, and 
the widow of a wealthy landed proprietor, whose death 
had occurred three years before. Her maiden name was 
Dandridge, and she was of Welsh descent. She had two 
children, — a son and a daughter, — to whom George was 
devoted, and treated with the kindness of a father. He 
had no children. The prudence and gravity of Mrs, 
Custis eminently fitted her to be the wife of Washing- 
ton. She was her husband's sole executrix, and managed 
the complicated affairs of the estates which he had left 
— involving the raising of crops and sale of them in 
Europe — with ability. It is said that the soldier fell in 
love, with the fair widow the first time he ever saw her. 
As a military general Washington ranks among the highest, 
whether of ancient or modern times. Frederick the 
Great of Prussia sent him a portrait of himself, with the 
message, "From the oldest general in Europe to the 
greatest general in the world." In many respects he is 
beyond a comparison with the most celebrated heroes. 
He had no stain of an unhallowed ambition. At the 
close of the Revolutionary war America was in his power, 
but instead of a dictator he became one of her most 
obedient sons. Military command he assumed as a duty, 
but whenever an opportunity offered he hastened to resign 
it, that he might retire to the shades and peace of private 
life. He was the first President of the United States, 
and was inaugurated into that high office March 4, 1789. 



who? ! 93 



Having served two presidential terms, he declined the 
honor which his countrymen would doubtless have again 
conferred upon him, and sought the gratification of his 
farm at Mount Vernon. He died unexpectedly, after a 
few days' illness, December 14, 1799. He was buried 
with due national honors, and Americans mourned the 
loss of a tried friend and father. He was endowed with 
every virtue of humanity. His passions were naturally 
strong, but he attained to a wonderful command of them. 
He was modest, condescending, affable, and excellent in 
all the relations of private and domestic life. He was a 
true Christian, and a member of the Episcopal church. 

217. Helen of Greece. — Who was the most perfectly 
beautiful Greek woman of the age in which she lived? 
Ans. Helen of Greece. 

The birth of Helen is so clouded with obscurity that it 
is difficult to arrive at the actual facts. Some assert her 
to be the daughter of Leda by Jupiter ; others say she 
was the offspring of Jupiter and Nemesis, who had long 
fled the pursuit of the god, and to elude him had taken 
the form of all kinds of animals. At length, while she 
was under that of a goose, the god became a swan, and 
she laid an egg, which was found by a shepherd in the 
woods. He brought it to Leda, who laid it up in a 
coffer, and in due time Helen was produced from it. The 
beauty of Helen was proverbial, and so renowned was she 
for her personal attractions even in her infancy, that The- 
seus, in company with his friend Pirithous, carried her off, 
when only a child, from a festival at which they saw her 
dancing in the temple of Diana Orthia. It was agreed 
during their flight that he who should, by lot, become 
possessor of the prize should assist in procuring a wife 
for the other. The lot fell to Theseus, and he conveyed 
the young Helen to Aphidnae, and there placed her under 
the care of his mother, ^Ethra, till she should have at- 
tained the years of maturity. From this retreat, however, 
her brothers, Castor and Pollux, recovered her by force 
of arms and restored her to her family. All the princes 
of Greece contended for her hand ; this alarmed rather 
than pleased Tyndarus, who was her guardian, for he well 
knew that he could not prefer one without displeasing all 
1 17 



194 



WHOP 



the rest. Among these celebrated princes were Ulysses, 
whose adventures on the sea were so renowned ; a son of 
Nestor ; Diomedes ; two sons of the god Mars ; Ajax, son 
of Telamon, who was, next to Achilles, the bravest of the 
Greeks in the Trojan war ; Ajax, son of Oileus, who was 
afterwards struck by lightning for contempt of the gods ; 
Menelaus ; etc. Ulysses proposed to Tyndarus a way to 
help him out of his embarrassing position by the following 
means : Ulysses was known throughout Greece for his 
prudence and sagacity, and he soon saw that his own pre- 
tensions to the hand of Helen were useless, and so told 
Tyndarus that he would free him from all his difficulties 
if he would promise him his niece Penelope in marriage. 
Tyndarus readily consented, and Ulysses then advised the 
king to bind, by a solemn oath, all the suitors, that they 
would approve of the uninfluenced choice which Helen 
should make of one among them, and engage to unite to- 
gether to defend her person and character, if ever any at- 
tempt were made to carry her off from her husband. The 
princes consented, and Helen chose Menelaus, and mar- 
ried him. This union continued three years with unin- 
terrupted happiness. After this, Paris, son of Priam, 
King of Troy, came to Lacedsemon on pretense of sacri- 
ficing to Apollo, but in reality to see the woman whose 
praises and beauty were a theme of universal knowledge 
throughout the world. Paris was kindly received by 
Menelaus, but, taking advantage of the temporary absence 
of the latter in Crete, the guest betrayed the hospitality 
of his host, and after corrupting the fidelity of Helen, 
persuaded her to flee with him to Troy. On Menelaus's 
return, finding his wife gone, he assembled her old suit- 
ors and reminded them of the solemn promise they had 
made. They resolved to make war against the Trojans ; 
but they previously sent ambassadors to Priam to demand 
the restoration of Helen. Paris's influence was so great 
at his father's court that the restoration of the Greek 
princess was refused. Soon after the return of these am- 
bassadors they assembled their combined forces and sailed 
for the coast of Asia. In the ninth year of the war, — it 
lasted ten, — when Paris had been slain, Helen married 
another son of Priam's; but, on the capture of the city of 



who? i 95 



Troy, she betrayed him into the hands of Menelaus, 
through a wish to ingratiate herself into the favor of her 
former husband. On her return to Greece, Helen lived 
many years with Menelaus, who forgave her infidelity. 
It is said of her beauty, that the very elders of Troy could 
not refrain from expressing their admiration when they 
saw her pass by. Upon the death of Menelaus she was 
driven from the Peloponnesus by his illegitimate sons, 
and retired to Rhodes, where she was murdered by a 
widow whose husband had been killed in the siege of 
Troy.* 

218. Who were the "Twelve Caesars"? Am. Caius 
Julius and Augustus Caesar, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, 
Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and Do- 
mitian. 

1. Caius Julius Caesar. (See 135 in "Who?") 

2. Augustus Caesar was a grand-nephew of Julius 
Caesar and his adopted heir. Octavius was his real name, 
but he was afterwards surnamed Augustus. Augustus was 
the reigning emperor of the world at the time of our 
Saviour's birth, as Judea with the other countries had 
submitted to the Roman yoke. Augustus, according to 
the common reckoning, was in the thirty-first year of his 
reign when Christ came into the world, and died fourteen 
years later. He was the first to establish a despotism 
over the Roman people. Ambassadors from every region 
daily arrived in Rome, to do homage to her greatness or 
to seek her friendship and assistance. Antony, Lepidus, 
and Octavius formed, in 43 b c, the second triumvirate 
in Rome after the death of Caesar. This was a most 
bloody partnership, and the best blood in Rome was shed 
to satisfy their revenge. They divided the supreme au- 
thority among themselves, and by concert stipulated that 
all their respective enemies should be destroyed, though 
those might happen to be the best friends of each associ- 
ate who was required to sacrifice them. It was on account 
of this infamous agreement that the great Cicero perished. 
(See 125 in "What?") Those who had put Caesar to 
death did not long escape the vengeance of his friends, 



Anthon's Classical Dictionary. 



196 WHO? 



and Augustus and Antony marched against them in 
Thrace, where they had a formidable army of one hun- 
dred thousand men, commanded by Brutus and Cassius. 
An engagement took place at Philippi 42 B.C. which decided 
the fate of the empire. It was won by Augustus and An- 
tony, or rather Antony alone, for Octavius was destitute 
not only of military talents but even of personal bravery. 
The power of the Triumviri being established upon the 
ruins of the commonwealth, they began to think of enjoy- 
ing the homage to which they had aspired. Lepidus, 
however, was soon deposed and banished, and Antony 
took his way to the East, where at Athens he spent some 
time in philosophical retirement, and afterwards passed 
from kingdom to kingdom attended by a crowd of sov- 
ereigns, exacting contributions and giving away crowns 
with capricious insolence, while Octavius, with consum- 
mate art, was increasing his favor with the people by his 
munificence and contriving the means to attain supreme 
power. A large share of the popularity of Octavius with 
the Roman people was owing to his name and his rela- 
tionship to Csesar, and also on account of his personal 
appearance and accomplishments. These were in the 
highest degree prepossessing. Antony had summoned 
the famous Egyptian queen Cleopatra to answer for her 
disaffection to the Roman cause, and falling in love with 
her, lavished the provinces of the empire on her, for which 
he was declared the public enemy. For the sake of this 
base queen he had divorced his own beautiful wife Octa- 
via, sister of Octavius, which gave the latter the oppor- 
tunity which he had eagerly desired of declaring war 
against Antony. In a battle, principally naval, which 
occurred at Actium on the coast of Epirus, 31 B.C., the 
conflict was decisive and Octavius the conqueror. He 
pursued the fugitives to Egypt, where Antony, anticipat- 
ing his doom, fell upon his sword, and later buried the 
unhappy Cleopatra in Antony's tomb. This left Octavius 
without a rival, with the government of Rome on his 
hands. Egypt, which had existed a kingdom from im- 
memorial ages, from this time became a province of Rome, 
30 B.C. The Roman Empire had now become the largest 
which the world had ever seen, and Octavius, now named 



WHO? 197 



Augustus, having the principal offices of the state, was in 
effect the absolute master of the lives and fortunes of the 
Roman people. During a long administration he almost 
effaced the memory of his former cruelties, and seemed 
to consult only the good of his subjects. His reign con- 
stituted the era of Roman taste and genius, under the 
auspices of Maecenas, his chief minister, who was the 
most eminent patron of letters recorded in history. 
Through the counsel of this great minister Augustus fos- 
tered learning and the arts to the highest degree, and 
specimens of human intellect then appeared which have 
rarely been equaled among mankind. Genius enjoyed 
all the rewards and all the considerations that it could 
claim. It was during the reign of Augustus that the 
Temple of Janus was closed. (See 94 in "What?") The 
authority which Augustus usurped he from policy ac- 
cepted only for a limited period, sometimes for ten and 
sometimes for only five years, but at the expiration of the 
term it was regularly bestowed upon him again. He 
reigned for more than forty years, and during the whole 
of it he cultivated the arts of peace. In his domestic life 
Augustus was less happy and fortunate than as master of 
the Roman people. His wife Livia was an imperious 
woman and controlled him at her pleasure. Her son 
Tiberius, who at length succeeded to the empire, pos- 
sessed a suspicious and obstinate temper, and gave Augus- 
tus so much uneasiness that he banished him for five years 
from Rome. He lost a favorite son, who, it is supposed, 
was poisoned lest he should supplant Tiberius. The em- 
peror was often heard to exclaim, " How happy should I 
have been had I never had a wife or children !" His 
daughter Julia, by his former wife, afflicted him more 
than all the rest through her excessive lewdness. The 
very court where her father presided was not exempt from 
her debaucheries. Augustus died during an absence from 
Rome, at Nola, of a dysentery, in the seventy-sixth year 
of his age, 14 a.d., and in the forty-first of his reign. 

3. Tiberius, adopted son of Augustus and son of 
Livia by a former husband, was named in the will of Au- 
gustus as his successor, and immediately assumed the gov- 
ernment, 14 a.d. During the first eight or nine years 

17* 



WHO ? 



of his reign he put on the appearance of justice and mod- 
eration, practicing the most consummate dissimulation. 
During this time his vicious and tyrannical disposition 
was indulged in a very covert manner, but afterwards it 
was openly manifested and carried to a most terrible ex- 
treme. His cruelties and debaucheries were enormous. 
The first objects of his suspicions were Agrippa Postu- 
mus, a grandson of Augustus, whom he ordered to be 
executed, in compliance with the pretended will of that 
emperor, and the accomplished Germanicus, his nephew 
and distinguished general, whom he caused to be secretly 
poisoned. The Romans indulged in unbounded sorrow 
on the death of Germanicus. Later in life, when Tibe- 
rius no longer restrained his passions, the best blood in 
Rome flowed. By means of Sejanus, a Roman knight 
whom he took into his confidence, and who exceeded 
Tiberius in dissimulation, he exercised the most shocking 
cruelties towards his subjects. Sejanus first fell a victim 
to his crimes in attempting to assume the government 
himself; and a few years after, in the seventy-eighth year 
of his age and the twenty-third of his reign, 37 a.d., 
Tiberius was either strangled or poisoned by one of his 
officers. In the sixty-seventh year of his life Tiberius 
abandoned Rome, through the influences of Sejanus, and 
retired to the island of Caprea, as a more convenient 
place for the indulgence of his indolence and debauch- 
eries. His gloomy and cruel disposition followed him 
to the little island, where, with the base Sejanus, he per- 
petrated all manner of crimes. The unpleasantness of his 
person was an index of the deformity of his mind. He 
was quite bald in front; his face was disgustingly ulcer- 
ated and covered over with plasters ; his body was bent 
forward, while its unnatural tallness and leanness in- 
creased its ugliness. He now gave himself up to every 
excess, and passed whole nights in eating and drinking. 
He appointed two of his table-companions to the first 
posts in the empire for no other merit than that of having 
sat up with him two days and two nights without inter- 
ruption. These he called his friends of all hours. The 
most eminent women of Rome were obliged to sacrifice 
to him their virtue and honor. Tiberius's jealousy, which 



WHO 



I 99 



fastened on persons of the highest distinction, induced 
him to condemn them to death on the slightest pretenses. 
Indeed, to such an extent were legalized murders car- 
ried that he began to grow wearied with particular execu- 
tions, and therefore gave orders that all the accused should 
be put to death together without further examination. The 
entire city of Rome was filled with slaughter and mourn- 
ing. The place of execution was a horrible scene : dead 
bodies putrefying lay heaped on each other, while the 
friends of the wretched convicts were denied even the sat- 
isfaction of weeping. In putting to death sixteen out of 
the twenty senators whom he had chosen for his council, 
he uttered the never-to-be-forgotten sentiment, ''Let them 
hate me, so long as they obey me." At the time of Ti- 
berius's death the Romans had arrived at the highest pitch 
of effeminacy and vice. The wealth of almost every na- 
tion in the empire having long circulated through the city, 
brought with it the luxuries peculiar to each country. 
Rome, in consequence, was one vast mass of pollution 
and sensuality. Aside from their genius, there was never 
a more detestable people than the Romans at this epoch, 
and indeed during the continuance of the empire. Cru- 
elty and lust were the essential ingredients of their char- 
acter. Tiberius made death form a great part of the fes- 
tivities of the Romans. It was introduced as a contrast, 
and for the purpose of giving a zest to the pleasures of life. 
Gladiators, courtesans, and musicians were procured to 
enliven entertainments. A Roman, on quitting a haunt 
of infamous pleasure, went to enjoy the spectacle of a 
wild beast devouring human victims and quaffing their 
blood. Tiberius is said to have given a great burst of 
joy, which he was unable to repress, on finding that his 
subjects had sunk below even the baseness of his own 
heart. 

4. Caligula. (See 11 in "What?") 

5. Claudius. (See 221 in "Who?") 

6. Nero. (See 228 in "Who?") 

7. Galba, who was associated with Vindex in the 
insurrection which issued in the destruction of Nero, 
succeeded the latter in the empire 68 a.d. Vindex at 
the commencement of his revolt generously proclaimed 



2oo WHO ? 



Galba emperor, and after the death of Nero both the 
senate and the legions under his command sanctioned 
this measure. Before his elevation mankind thought 
well of Galba ; his descent was illustrious, his reputation 
as a commander stood high, and no stain was cast on his 
courage or virtue. Compared with his predecessors, he 
was certainly a respectable emperor. In seeking to ac- 
complish two important objects, the punishment of the 
enormous vices then prevalent and the replenishment of 
the treasury, he was unduly severe. As he was naturally 
parsimonious, he became an object of contempt and ridi- 
cule. It was impossible for Galba to make the Roman 
people pass at once from the extreme of luxury to that of 
sobriety and economy ; yet such he tried to have them 
do. The state was too much corrupted to admit of such 
an immediate and total change. Had Galba not suffered 
his assistants to abuse his confidence, and could he have 
been a little more equal, moderate, and conciliatory in 
his administration, he would have been as well thought of 
when an emperor as he was when he was a general. It is 
mentioned as an instance of his severity, that upon some 
disrespectful treatment of him from a certain body of his 
subjects, he ordered a detachment of horse attending him 
to ride in among them, and thus killed seven thousand of 
them, and afterwards decimated the survivors. He once 
groaned upon having an expensive soup served up for him 
at his table. To a steward, for his fidelity, he presented 
a plate of beans ; and to Canus, a famous flute-player, 
who greatly delighted him, he gave five-pence, taking 
out his purse for that purpose, and telling him impress- 
ively it was private not public money. Such ill-timed 
parsimony cost him his popularity. Galba reigned only 
seven months. He perished in the seventy-third year of 
his life, in consequence of the attempt of Otho, one of 
his generals, to obtain the throne. Otho expected to be 
adopted by Galba for his successor; but the emperor, dis- 
carding all favoritism, sought the good of the empire by 
nominating the virtuous Piso. Otho, in consequence, 
had recourse to arms, and thus accomplished the death 
both of Galba and Piso. 

8. Otho was raised to the throne on the death of Galba, 



WHO? 201 



69 a.d., having received from the senate the titles usually 
given to the emperors. Otho began his reign with several 
signal acts of mercy and of justice. The character of 
this prince as a private man was everything detestable, 
but as an emperor he appeared courageous, benevolent, 
and humane. The good course, unfortunately for man- 
kind, which he had marked out for himself was soon 
terminated. He reigned only ninety-five days. Vitel- 
lius, who had been proclaimed emperor by his army in 
Germany, gave Otho battle at a place near Mantua, where 
the army of the latter was defeated ; and he, in a fit of 
despair, ended his life by his own hand, 69 a.d. Otho 
was descended from the ancient kings of Etruria. It is 
said that the last moments of his life were those of a 
philosopher. He comforted his soldiers who lamented 
his fortune, and he expressed his concern for their safety, 
when they earnestly solicited to pay him the last friendly 
offices before he stabbed himself. He observed that it 
was better for one man to die than that all should be 
involved in ruin for his obstinacy. 

9. Vitellius assumed the government on the death of 
Otho, but only reigned eight months. He was as great 
a wretch as ever came to the throne, and was given to 
cruelty and to the infamous indulgence of his appetites. 
He perished justly. Vespasian, who had at this time 
command of the Roman army in Egypt, was proclaimed 
emperor by his legions. Entering Italy, a great part of 
the country submitted to his arms, and even Vitellius 
meanly capitulated to save his life, by a resignation of the 
empire. This act of cowardice rousing the indignation 
of the people, he was compelled to oppose Vespasian by 
force, but without effect. One of the generals of the con- 
queror took possession of Rome, and Vitellius, falling 
into the hands of a party of the enemy, was ignominiously 
put to death. The following are some of the many in- 
stances we might relate of his cruelty : Going to visit one 
of his associates, who was in a virulent fever, he mingled 
poison with the water, and delivered it to him with his 
own hands, in order to obtain his possessions. He never 
pardoned money-lenders who presumed to demand pay- 
ment of his former debts ; but taking away their lives, he 
1* 



202 WHO? 



both canceled their claims and succeeded to their estate. 
A Roman knight being dragged away to execution, and 
crying out that he had made the emperor his heir, Vitel- 
lius demanded to see the will, where finding himself joint 
heir with another, he ordered both executed, that he 
might enjoy the legacy alone. Gluttony, however, was 
his predominant vice. In order to be able to renew his 
meals at pleasure, he brought himself to the habit of vom- 
iting. In one particular dish did this imperial glutton 
outdo all the former profusion of the most luxurious Ro- 
mans. This dish was of such magnitude as to be called 
the shield of Minerva, and was filled with a medley made 
from the air-bladders of the fish called scarri, the brains 
of pheasants and woodcocks, the tongues of the most 
costly birds, and the spawn of lampreys brought from the 
Carpathian Sea. 

10. Vespasian having been declared emperor by the 
unanimous consent of the senate and the army, 70 a.d., 
was received with the greatest joy on his arrival at Rome. 
Though of mean descent, he deserved the purple, and 
reigned during ten years with great popularity. He was 
distinguished by clemency, affability, and a simple, frugal 
mode of life. His frugality bordered upon avarice, which 
was the principal defect of his character. In his admin- 
istration of government he acted under the forms of the 
republic, and even restored the senate to its deliberative 
rights. The famous war against the Jews (see 137 in 
"What?") was terminated during the reign of Vespa- 
sian by the arms of his son Titus. After this the empire 
was in profound peace, and the emperor, having asso- 
ciated Titus in the government, soon departed life, to 
the universal regret of the Roman people, in the seven- 
tieth year of his age, 79 a.d. It was some time before 
Vespasian could give security and peace to the empire. 
When this object was effected, he began to correct the 
abuses which had grown up under the tyranny of his pre- 
decessors. He restrained the licentiousness of the army, 
degraded such senators as were unworthy of their station, 
abridged the tedious processes in the courts of justice, re- 
built such parts of the city as had suffered in the late 
commotions, and extended his paternal care over all parts 



WHO ? 203 



of the empire. Vespasian was liberal in the encourage- 
ment of learning and the arts. He was particularly kind 
to Josephus (see 25 in " Who?"), the Jewish historian; 
and Quintilian and Pliny, who flourished in his reign, 
were highly esteemed by him. Indeed, the professors of 
every liberal art or science were sure to experience his 
bounty. He died by disease, a death quite unusual with 
the masters of Rome. Taken with an indisposition at 
Campania, which from the beginning he declared would 
be fatal, he cried out, in the spirit of paganism, " Me- 
thinks I am going to be a god." When brought to the 
last extremity, and perceiving that he was about to expire, 
he exclaimed that an emperor ought to die standing, and 
therefore raising himself upon his feet, he breathed his 
last in the arms of his supporters. (See 193 in " Who?") 

11. Titus. (See 137 in ''What?") 

12. Domitian, upon the death of Titus, came to the 
throne 81 a.d. No two characters could present a more 
striking contrast than these two brothers. Domitian was 
a most execrable villain and tyrant, and the happiness and 
security that the Roman people for a time enjoyed was 
utterly destroyed by this wretch. He condemned to death 
many of the most illustrious Romans, and witnessed with 
the most ferocious pleasure the agonies of his victims. 
He caused himself to be styled God and Lord in all the 
papers that were presented to him. Though not destitute 
of learning himself, he banished the philosophers from 
Rome. His reign was an era of prodigality and luxury, 
as well as of inhumanity and baseness. The people were 
loaded with insupportable taxes to furnish spectacles and 
games for their amusements. His leisure was passed in 
the most degrading pursuits. One of the most constant 
occupations of his private hours was the catching and 
killing of flies. In his reign occurred the second great 
persecution of the Christians, in which forty thousand of 
them were destroyed. His general, Agricola, met with 
signal success in the expedition against Britain, though 
Domitian derived no renown, but rather disgrace from it, 
in consequence of his ungrateful treatment of Agricola. 
To the senate and nobility Domitian was particularly hos- 
tile, frequently threatening to extirpate them all. He de- 



204 WH0 ? 



lighted to expose them both to terror and ridicule. He 
once assembled the august body of the senate to know in 
what vessel a turbot might be most conveniently dressed. 
At another time, inviting them to a public entertainment, 
he received them all very formally at the entrance of his 
palace, and introduced them into a large, gloomy hall, 
hung with black, and lighted with a few glimmering tapers. 
All around nothing was to be seen but coffins, with the 
name of each of the senators written on them, and other 
frightful objects, and instruments of execution. While 
the company beheld all these preparations with silent 
agony, on a sudden a number of men burst into the 
room, clothed with black, with drawn swords and flaming 
torches, and after they had some time terrified the guests, a 
message from the emperor gave the company permission 
to retire. His death had been predicted by the astrol- 
ogers, and this circumstance gave him the most torment- 
ing inquietude. His jealousies increasing with a sense 
of his guilt, he was afraid by day and by night ; and in 
proportion to his fears he became more cruel. The gallery 
in which he was accustomed to walk he ordered to be set 
round with a pellucid stone, which served as a mirror, to 
reflect the persons of all such as approached him from 
behind. But his precautions were unavailing. His wife, 
Domitia, having accidentally discovered that her name was 
on the list of those whom he intended to put to death, at 
once concerted measures to secure her safety by the de- 
struction of the emperor. Engaging some of the officers 
of his household, and others who were on the proscribed 
list, to enter into her plan, she had the good fortune soon 
to learn that he was dispatched at midnight in one of the 
most secret recesses of his palace, where he had retired 
to rest. He reigned fifteen years. The twelve Caesars 
ended with Domitian. Augustus was the first emperor 
strictly so called, and Nero was the last emperor of the 
Augustan family. 

219. Therese Levasseur. — Who was Therese Le- 
vasseur? Ans. The wife of Rousseau. 

Therese Levasseur was a perfect virago. She is de- 
scribed asa " great strapping woman, whose red face was 
the very representative of coarseness and meanness." 



WHO 



205 



She ruled the great philosopher with a rod of iron, and her 
harsh voice, when raised in anger, disordered his nerves 
for hours afterwards. If callers came and she did not 
choose to let them in, she would slam the door in their 
faces and walk off without more ado. She would often 
accept bribes from visitors who wished to gain access to 
the lion she had tamed ; and standing outside the door 
of the little room where Rousseau tried to escape her, she 
would watch and listen to the conversation till she was 
tired, when she would notify the guest that he must leave 
and give her husband a chance to earn their bread ; and 
leave he must whenever this vixen said the word. 

220. Cicero. — Who was called the "Father of Latin 
eloquence"? Ans. Cicero. (See 125 in " What ?") 

221. Claudius. — Who was proclaimed emperor at the 
moment he expected nothing but death? Ans. Claudius. 

Claudius was the fourth Roman emperor, and assumed 
the purple 41 a.d. Claudius was the uncle of Caligula, 
and grandson of Mark Antony and Octavia, the sister of 
Augustus. On the death of Caligula a temporary con- 
fusion followed in Rome, and in this crisis of affairs the 
senate attempted to restore the republic. But the spirit 
of Roman liberty had fled. The populace and, in general, 
the army opposed the design. Claudius, at this juncture, 
having been accidentally found in a lurking-place to which 
he had repaired through fear, some of the prsetorian 
guards proclaimed him emperor, at the moment he ex- 
pected nothing but death. He was a man below medi- 
ocrity in understanding and education, and his capacity 
for business was even contemptible. He became almost, 
of course, infamous for his vices, and the dupe of his 
associates and even of his domestics. Many were the 
cruelties committed during his reign, though they seem 
to have been suggested principally by his wicked direct- 
ors, among whom was the notorious Messalina, his wife. 
The stupidity of Claudius was such that he was alike in- 
different whatever was done, and often was so operated 
upon by his fears that he would consent to any act, how- 
ever unjust. His own family, on one pretext or another, 
was almost exterminated, and great numbers of others 
fell a sacrifice to the jealousy of Messalina and her min- 



2o6 WHO 



ions, who ruled him at will. Thirty-five senators and 
over three hundred knights were executed while he held 
the purple. One enterprise of importance marked his 
reign, and that was his expedition in'to Britain, 43 a.d. 
He undertook to reduce the island, and after visiting it 
in person left his generals, Plautius and Vespasian, to 
prosecute a war, which was carried on for several years 
with various success. The Silures, or inhabitants of South 
Wales, under their king Caractacus, made a spirited re- 
sistance, but were defeated and carried captive to Rome. 
Messalina advanced in boldness as in profligacy, but her 
excesses became the occasion of her destruction. The 
emperor was persuaded to put her to death for her shame- 
less infidelity to him. Afterwards he married Agrippina, 
the daughter of his brother Germanicus, who had poisoned 
her former husband, and who at length poisoned Claudius. 
She made every effort to secure the empire to her son 
Nero, and such was her influence over the emperor that 
he adopted him to please her. As might be expected, the 
two combined to effect the death of Claudius, and thus 
opened the way to the most infamous ruler that had ever 
perhaps governed the Roman people. Claudius had 
reigned fifteen years, and was in his sixty-third year 
when he was put to death. At this era Rome contained 
nearly seven millions of inhabitants, and, as might be ex- 
pected, corruption and luxury were excessive. The Ro- 
man military spirit, though much relaxed, still continued 
to awe mankind by the terror of its name. 

222. Tasso. — Who is called "The Prince of Italian 
poets" ? A/is. Tasso. 

Torquato Tasso was born in Sorrento, in the kingdom 
of Naples, March 11, 1544. His father, Bernardo Tasso, 
married Portia Rossi, a Neapolitan lady of great beauty 
and accomplishments, and as he was a man of fame (a 
poet of no mean greatness) and wealth, the nuptials were 
celebrated with much splendor in the spring of 1539. 
When Torquato was only seven years of age his father lost 
his fortune, and thus he was brought up to a life of de- 
pendence. He was educated by the Jesuits, whose con- 
vent he entered, and his love of study was so great that 
at ten years of age he recited original verses and orations 



WHO? 



207 



which excited the admiration of all auditors. At nine 
his piety was so deep that he was admitted to the com- 
munion-table. When only eighteen years old he wrote, 
in the short space of ten months, his beautiful poem of 
"Rinaldo," composing it while in the University of 
Padua, which he had entered for the purpose of study- 
ing law; but law books were too dry for his mind, full 
of imagination, and in secret he wrote verses. Tasso's 
fame rests principally upon his epic poem of " Jerusalem 
Delivered," which has gained the palm of immortality. 
Tasso passed a life of varied and great suffering. He was 
subject to fits of depression and melancholy, which almost 
resulted in lunacy. He was confined by the Duke of 
Este, who had been his patron, in a hospital for a long 
time, under the pretense that he was insane. Unfortu- 
nately, he had fallen in love with the duke's sister, Leo- 
nora, and there is every reason to suppose that she re- 
turned the tender passion, but enemies stepped in and 
made the proud Alphonso more severe than he would 
naturally have been, as his friendship for the poet was 
strong and warm. The princess died in 1581, in the 
forty-fourth year of her age. When Tasso was released 
from his confinement his fame as a poet began to be more 
known ; but the day before he was to have received the 
laurel crown from the Pope he suddenly expired, and the 
day that was to have seen his coronation witnessed the 
sad procession of his funeral. He was fifty-one years 
of age. He died a Christian, sustained by a Christian's 
hope. 

223. Charles James Fox.— Who was called "The 
Man of the People" ? Ans. Charles James Fox. 

Charles James Fox was a son of the first Lord Holland. 
Born in London on the 24th of January, 1749, he died 
on the 13th of September, 1806. He was a celebrated 
orator and statesman, and a great friend of American 
independence when in the English House of Commons. 
Fox maintained that the people had a right to choose 
their own leaders and rulers. He was a great Whig, and 
was much disliked by George III., who opposed him 
whenever the opportunity presented itself. He was petted 
and spoiled in his boyhood by an indulgent father, and 



208 WHO 



began life as a fop of the first water, and squandered fifty 
thousand pounds in debt before he was of age. In suc- 
cession he indulged recklessly and extravagantly in every 
course of licentiousness which the profligate society of the 
day opened to him. He ate and drank to excess, threw 
thousands upon the faro-table, mingled with blacklegs, 
and made himself notorious for his shameless vices. It 
was impossible that such a life should not destroy every 
principle of honor, and there is nothing improbable in 
the story that he appropriated to himself money that 
belonged to his dear friend Mrs. Crewe. He made an 
affected display of his talents, — which were certainly 
great, — but he was proud of his learning rather as adding 
lustre to his celebrity for universal tastes than for any real 
pleasure they gave him. Sensual and self-indulgent, with 
a grossness that is even patent on his very portrait, he 
had nevertheless a manner which captivated and charmed 
the fair sex. Fox was the only politician of the day who 
thoroughly enlisted the personal sympathies of women of 
mind and character, as well as of those who might be 
captivated by his profession. Throughout England the 
most celebrated beauties were his ardent supporters when he 
was crying opinions that were far ahead of his time. They 
worked indefatigably for him when he wanted to enter the 
House of Commons. (See 150 in " What ?") He traveled 
extensively, and in 1802 was in Paris. It is said he went 
there in order to make researches at the Scotch college 
as an addition to his materials for a projected history of 
the Stuarts; but however this may be, he turned the ex- 
cursion into a wedding journey, and before he set out 
was privately married to Mrs. Armistead, who should have 
been his wife many years before. His fame was great 
in France. He had come forward in England as "The 
Man of the People," and was quite prepared to receive 
from the Republicans of France the full honors of the 
character he had assumed. He was everywhere hailed as 
a great patriot; and Napoleon, always anxious to concili- 
ate the English Whigs, and form there, if possible, a Bona- 
partist faction, received him with marked interest. His 
portrait was to be seen in every shop-window, and the 
young beaux of Paris who had heard of his fame as a 



WHO? 



209 



dandy were all eager to imitate his style of dress. At 
this time the beautiful Madame Recamier ruled the world 
of fashion with her charming ways and manners, and of 
course Fox was desirous to meet the woman of whom all 
sang praises. He was charmed with her, and said "she 
was the only woman who united the attractions of pleasure 
to those of modesty." High praise from a man who was 
certainly not the one to ascribe virtue to any woman un- 
less she had shown ample proof of it. One afternoon 
she called for him in her carriage, and insisted that he 
should accompany her in it along the Boulevards, "for," 
she said, "before you came, I was the fashion ; it is a 
point of honor, therefore, that I should not appear jeal- 
ous of you." Fox and Burke were great friends for 
twenty-five years, but at last quarreled in the House of 
Commons, and though Fox, with his usual generosity of 
disposition, apologized and made every amend in his 
power, it was of no avail. Burke never forgave him. 
Fox once said that he learned more from Burke's con- 
versation than from all the books he had ever read. Late 
in life he reformed, and when he was in his last sick- 
ness desired to be removed to St. Ann's Hill, near Chert- 
sey, the scene of his happier days. His physicians hesi- 
tated, and recommended his being carried first to the 
Duke of Devonshire's house at Chiswick. Here he died, 
surrounded by his wife and father, niece, and Lady Eliz- 
abeth Foster. He expressed himself as being ready and 
willing to die, and his last words to Mrs. Fox and Lord 
Holland were, "God bless you, — I die happy, — I pity 
you." He was buried with great pomp in Westminster 
Abbey. At one time he was very devoted to the Duchess 
of Devonshire, and stories were afloat which did not re- 
dound to her credit, lovely as she is said to have been. 
It was owing to her interest in him that she and her sister, 
Lady Duncannon, worked so hard for him during his elec- 
tion, and won it for him. (See 150 in "What?") He 
had dark, saturnine features, which were said to be irre- 
sistible when they relaxed into a smile. Black, shaggy 
eyebrows concealed the workings of his mind, but gave 
immense expression to his countenance. His figure was 
broad, and only graceful when his wonderful intellect 

18* 



2io WHO? 



threw even over that the power of genius, and produced, 
when in declamation, the most impassioned gestures. He 
was a descendant in the female line from Charles II., 
whom some thought he resembled. 

224. Mistress of Louis XV. of France. — Who 
was Countess Du Barry ? Ans. Mistress of Louis XV. 
of France. 

Marie Jeanne Gomart de Vaubernier, Countess du 
Barry, was born at Vaucouleurs, in Champagne, August 
19, 1746, and guillotined in Paris on the 6th of Decem- 
ber, 1793. She was the daughter of a seamstress, and was 
employed in a milliner's shop in Paris, where she led a 
dissolute life. One of her lovers, Count Jean du Barry, 
brought her, through his valet, to the notice of Louis 
XV. . who made her marry the count's brother, after which 
she was introduced at court. She was wondrously beau- 
tiful, and by her wit and personal charms retained the 
king's affections until his death. She cost France over 
thirty-five millions of francs, out of which she provided for 
her relatives and friends and also contributed to chari- 
table works. She persuaded the king to banish his prime 
minister, the Duke de Choiseul, her unrelenting enemy, 
and to dismiss and exile the Parliament of 1771. On the 
king's death, Louis XVI. banished her from court at the 
urgent entreaty of his young wife Marie Antoinette ; but 
after a year she was permitted to return to the wing of the 
royal palace which had been built for her use at Lucienne, 
near Versailles, and lived there with her lover, the Duke 
de Brissac, in shameful luxury. After a journey to Eng- 
land, she was arrested in July, 1793, upon a charge of 
having squandered the public funds, conspired against 
the republic, and worn mourning for the royal family 
while in London. Sentenced to death on the 6th of De- 
cember, she bore herself with fortitude during the trial ; 
but her courage deserted her on the way to the scaffold, 
and to the last moment she continued her piteous appeals 
for mercy. She was an illiterate woman, though she pa- 
tronized small poets. 

225. Thomas Jefferson. — Who wrote the Declaration 
of American Independence? Ans. Thomas Jefferson. 

Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, Albemarle 



WHO? 211 



County, Virginia, on the 2d of April, 1743. After finish- 
ing his collegiate course of education at William and Mary- 
College, he commenced the study of law with the cele- 
brated George Wythe, afterwards chancellor of the State. 
In 1766 Jefferson was admitted to the bar, and three years 
later was a member of the Virginia legislature. January 1, 
1772, he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, and the same year 
was appointed a member of the first committee of corre- 
spondence established by the colonial legislatures, and the 
next year he wrote and published his " Summary View 
of the Rights of British America." It was a bold and 
manly document, ably setting forth our own rights, and 
pointing out clearly the various ways in which they had 
been violated by the British government. On the 27th 
of March, 1775, he was elected one of the members to 
represent Virginia in the General Congress of the Con- 
federate Colonies already assembled at Philadelphia, and 
took his seat in this assembly on the 21st of June. 
Scarcely did he become known for his ability, than, in a 
few days after his arrival, he was made a member of a 
committee appointed to draw up a declaration setting 
forth the causes and necessity of resorting to arms. Jef- 
ferson was a thin, dark-eyed man, still young at thirty- 
three, a democrat of the severest culture, a friend of the 
people. He had a swift, inquisitive intellect, that was for 
fifty years longer to move restlessly over the earth. Hu- 
man equality was the theory that seemed to engage all his 
zeal. In America he had learned to abhor the selfishness 
of caste and to sigh for a practical equality. When he 
was appointed by Congress in 1785 to succeed Dr. Frank- 
lin as minister plenipotentiary at the court of Versailles, 
he could see only the sorrows and the degradation of the 
common people in Europe. He complained in bitter 
tones that of the human race not one-hundredth part 
were at ease or treated as if they were men. In France, 
which to Franklin and John Adams seemed the land of 
pleasure, elegance, and grace, the young Jefferson with his 
great love for the human family could see but the hand 
of tyranny pressing down the helpless crowd remorse- 
lessly, and in a moment of inspiration he cried out to his 
old friend Wythe, in one of his letters, " Above all things 



212 WHO? 



educate the people."* The chief, and almost the first, of 
Republicans, or Democrats, as they were then called, 
Jefferson saw with intense distinctness that no free in- 
stitutions could exist without knowledge, and that the 
school-master must rule in his new nation or the young 
republic would perish. Like Franklin, Jefferson was no 
speaker. He sat almost mute in the sessions of Congress. 
On the memorable 2d of July he took no part, in the great 
debate. But to his facile pen was committed the task of 
preparing the greatest boon we have, the glorious Declara- 
tion of Independence. To almost the youngest member 
of the assembly fell the duty of embodying in a brief 
essay the defense of the act of separation. It was writ- 
ten at 702 Market Street, Philadelphia. Jefferson was 
twice elected President of the United States, retiring 
in 1809, at the end of his second term, and residing at 
Monticello, his country-seat in Virginia. In the latter 
years of his life he suffered from pecuniary embarrassments, 
and in 1815 sold his library of some seven thousand volumes 
to Congress for twenty thousand dollars. He died on 
the 4th of July, 1826, just fifty years from the date of his 
signing the Declaration of Independence. In person 
Thomas Jefferson was six feet two inches in height, erect, 
and well formed, though thin ; his eyes were light and full 
of intelligence; his complexion fair, and his countenance 
remarkably expressive. In conversation he was cheerful 
and enthusiastic, and his language was remarkable for 
vivacity and correctness. His manners were simple and 
unaffected, combined, however, with much native but 
unobtrusive dignity. 

226. Charlotte Corday. — Who was Charlotte Corday? 
Ans. She was a Frenchwoman who worked herself up to a 
spirit of fanaticism and stabbed Marat, thinking thus to free 
her country from the hands of the tyrants who ruled it. 

Charlotte Corday was born at St. Saturnin des Ligne- 
rets, in the year 1768. . She was endowed with a hand- 
some person, with wit and feeling, and a truly heroic 
resolution. She was educated in a convent, where she 
labored constantly to cultivate her mind. The revolution 



* Harper's Weekly, July 8, 1856. 



WHO? 213 



in France — which began with the destruction of the an- 
cient prison of the state, the Bastile, on the 14th of July, 
1789 — found in her an ardent friend. Her love of study- 
rendered her careless of the homage that her beauty at- 
tracted, though she is said to have been deeply attached 
to M. Bekunce, major of the regiment of Bourbon, quar- 
tered at Caen. Belzunce was denounced by Marat in his 
journal, and massacred in 1789. Charlotte Corday was 
intoxicated with the idea of a republic submissive to the 
laws and fertile in virtue. The Girondists appeared to 
her desirous to realize her schemes. The Mountaineers 
alone seemed to throw obstacles in the way, and on the 
tidings of the 31st of May she determined to avenge her 
favorite orators. The war of the Calvados commenced. 
She conceived that the death of the leader of the anarch- 
ists, concurring with the insurrection of the departments, 
would insure victory to the latter. She therefore resolved 
to perform a great act of self-devotion, and to consecrate to 
her country a life of which husband, children, and family 
constituted neither the employment nor the delight. She 
wrote to her father, intimating that, as the troubles in 
France were daily becoming more alarming, she was going 
to seek peace and safety in England ; and immediately 
after thus writing she set out for Paris. Before her de- 
parture she was desirous to see at Caen the deputies who 
were the objects of her enthusiasm and devotion. She 
devised a pretext for introducing herself to them, and 
applied to Barbaroux for a letter of recommendation 
to Garat, the minister of the interior, having, she said, 
some papers to claim for a friend, formerly a canoness. 
Barbaroux gave her a letter to Duperret, the deputy, who 
conducted her to the minister's house, they being friends 
at the time. His colleagues, who saw her as well as he, 
and who, like him, heard her express her hatred of the 
Mountaineers and her enthusiasm for a pure and regular 
republic, were struck by her beauty and touched by her 
sentiments. All were utterly ignorant of her intentions. 
On reaching Paris she began to think of selecting her 
victim. Danton and Robespierre (see 5 in "When?") 
were sufficiently celebrated members of the Mountaineers 
to merit the blow, but Marat was the man who had ap- 



214 WHO 



peared most formidable to the provinces, and who was 
considered as the leader of the anarchists. She meant, at 
first, to strike Marat on the very top of the Mountain, 
and when surrounded by his friends ; but this she could 
not do now, as he was in a state that prevented his attend- 
ance at the convention ; he withdrew for a fortnight, but 
seeing that the Girondists could not yet be brought to 
trial, he put an end to this ridiculous farce, and appeared 
again in his place. Soon one of those inflammatory com- 
plaints obliged him to retire, and stay at home. There 
nothing could diminish his restless activity. He passed 
part of the day in his bath, with pens and paper beside 
him, writing, constantly engaged upon his journal, ad- 
dressing letters to the convention, and complaining that 
proper attention was not paid to them. He wrote one 
more, saying if that was not read, he would, ill as he was, 
be carried to the tribune and read it himself. Thus Char- 
lotte Corday was obliged to seek Marat at his own home. 
She first delivered the letter which she had for Duperret, 
executed her commission in regard to the minister of the 
interior, and prepared to carry out her design. She in- 
quired of a hackney-coachman where Marat lived, and 
called at his residence, but was not allowed to see him. 
She then wrote, urging she had just arrived from the Cal- 
vados, and had important matters to communicate. This 
was quite sufficient to procure a letter of introduction to 
him. Accordingly she called, on the 13th of July, at 
eight in the evening. Marat's housekeeper, a young 
woman of twenty-seven, who was attached to him, made 
soms difficulties, but Marat, who was in his bath, hearing 
Charlotte, desired she might be admitted. Being left 
alone with him, she related what she had seen at Caen ; 
then listened to and looked earnestly at him. Marat 
eagerly inquired the names of the deputies then at Caen. 
She mentioned them, and he, snatching up a pencil, be- 
gan to write them down, adding, " Very good ; they shall 
all go to the guillotine." "To the guillotine!" ex- 
claimed Charlotte Corday, with indignation. At the 
same moment she took a knife from her bosom, struck 
Marat below the left breast, and plunged the blade into 
his heart. "Help!" he cried ; "help, my dear !" His 



WHO? 



215 



housekeeper ran to him at his call; a messenger who 
was folding newspapers also hastened to his assistance. 
They found Marat covered with blood, and young Corday 
calm, serene, and motionless. The messenger knocked 
her down with a chair; the housekeeper trampled upon 
her. The tumult attracted a crowd, and presently the 
whole quarter was in an uproar. The heroic girl rose 
with dignity, and bore with composure the rage and ill 
usage of those around her. Members of the section, hear- 
ing of the circumstance, hastened to the spot, and, struck 
by her beauty and courage, and the bravery with which 
she avowed the deed, prevented her from being torn in 
pieces, and conducted her to prison, where she continued 
to confess everything with the same composure. This 
murder caused an extraordinary sensation, and a report 
was immediately circulated that it was the Girondists who 
had armed Charlotte Corday. Marat was buried with the 
highest honors, all factions claiming him, and all vying 
which should do him the greatest homage. The Moun- 
taineers, the Jacobi)is, and the Cordeliers, in particular 
gloried in having been the first to possess Marat, in hav- 
ing always continued to be more intimately connected 
with him, and in having never disowned him, manifested 
profound grief. The convention resolved to attend his 
funeral in a body, but Robespierre, always jealous when 
the attention of the public was not on himself, said the 
public should think less of what they were going to do 
with the body, now Marat was dead, and more of how 
they should revenge that death. Meanwhile the trial of 
the young, girl who had committed the terrible deed was 
proceeding with the rapidity of all the revolutionary furor. 
When she was brought before the tribunal she retained the 
same wonderful presence of mind as ever. The act of 
accusation was read to her, and the witnesses were exam- 
ined. She interrupted the first witness, and before he had 
time to commence his deposition said, "It was I who 
killed Marat." "What induced you to commit this 
murder?'' "His crimes." "What do you mean by his 
crimes?" " The calamities which he has occasioned ever 
since the revolution," was her reply. "Who instigated you 
to this act?" was the next question; to which Charlotte 



216 WHO? 



Corday proudly replied, " Myself alone. I had long re- 
solved upon it, and I should not have taken counsel of 
others for such an action. I was anxious to give peace to 
ray country." " But do you think that you have killed 
all the Marats?" "No," answered the accused, sorrow- 
fully ; " no." This composure was truly wonderful, and 
her confessions left but one thing for the convention to 
do, to sentence her to the penalty of death. Her beauti- 
ful face betrayed no emotion at this sentence. She re- 
turned to her prison with a smile upon her lips, and wrote 
her beloved father a farewell letter, asking his forgiveness 
for having disposed of her life. On the way to the scaf- 
fold Charlotte Corday heard nothing but applause and 
acclamation, yet by a smile alone she portrayed what she 
felt. At the time of her death she wanted three months 
of her twenty-fifth year. She was descended from Peter 
Corneille (see 83 in "Who?"); and in her letter to her 
heart-broken father she says, "Remember, dear father, 
what Corneille says, ' The crime makes the shame, and 
not the scaffold. ' " When the axe had severed her head 
from the beautiful white shoulders that so proudly carried 
it, the executioner held it up by the hair and gave it sev- 
eral buffets. Even in death the royal head was beautiful, 
and the spectators, hardened as they were, shuddered that 
any indignity should have been offered it. 

227. Thomas Shadwell. — Of whom was it said, "If 
he had burned all he wrote, and printed all he spoke, he 
would have had more wit and humor than any other 
poet" ? Ans. Thomas Shadwell. (See 18-2 in " Who?") 

228. Nero. — Under whose reign did the first persecu- 
tion of Christians begin in Rome? Ans. Under that of 
Nero. 

Nero Claudius was the fifth emperor of Rome, and the 
son of Agrippina, who married Claudius, and then pre- 
vailed upon him to adopt her son, Nero, and settle upon 
him the succession. He commenced his reign 54 a.d. 
He came to the throne under the most favorable circum- 
stances, and, like some of his predecessors, governed for 
a short period with moderation and justice. During this 
time he concealed his irmate depravity so successfully that 
scarcely any suspected that his virtues were feigned. The 



WHO? 217 



care of his education had been intrusted to Seneca, the fa- 
mous philosopher, though he seemed not to have profited 
under his instructor otherwise than to become affected 
and pedantic. While Nero was controlled by Seneca 
and Burrhus, captain of the praetorian guards, a worthy 
and experienced officer, he appeared just and humane ; 
but he could not long restrain the feelings of his base 
nature. At the expiration of five years he broke over all 
the bounds of decency and moderation, and pursued a 
course of conduct exceeding in puerility, levity, ferocity, 
and tyranny whatever had been done before him. He 
became one of the most odious characters recorded in 
history. His flagitiousness was manifested in the mur- 
der of his mother, his wife Octavia, his tutor Seneca, 
Lucan, the poet, and Burrhus, his benefactor ; in extir- 
pating many of the principal families of Rome on sus- 
picion of treason, in setting the city on fire and charging 
the crime on the Christians, and then punishing them 
with unheard-of tortures, and in unnumbered other acts 
in which he outraged reason and nature itself. The burn- 
ing of Rome by Nero was an act of mere wantonness. 
Some one happening to say in his presence that the world 
might be burnt when he was dead, " Nay," replied Nero; 
'Met it be burnt while I am living." Accordingly, as 
most historians report, he set it on fire, and, standing 
upon a high tower, he indulged the pleasure of fancying 
it a representation of the burning of Troy. The confla- 
gration continued nine days, and a great part of the city 
was consumed. During the reign of Nero the Britons, 
under their queen, Boadicea (see 14 in "What?"), re- 
volted, and defeated the Romans with the loss of seventy 
thousand men. The latter, however, avenged this loss at 
length by the slaughter of eighty thousand Britons, which 
completely broke the British spirit and power. A war 
was also carried on against the Parthians, under the con- 
duct of Corbulo, who obtained many victories over them. 
About this time also, 67 a.d., the Jews, who had revolted 
under the tyranny of Florus, the Roman governor, were 
massacred in great numbers. Indeed, the meanness and 
treachery of this emperor almost exceeds belief, and 
Rome did not contain another wretch as despicable in 
k 19 



2i8 WHO? 



the character of an actor, musician, or gladiator. At 
length having become an object of perfect hatred and 
contempt, a rebellion of his subjects, headed by Vindex, 
an illustrious Gaul, and Galba, who commanded in Spain, 
crushed this imperial monster, in the thirtieth year of 
his age, after a reign of fourteen years, a.d. 69. Too 
cowardly to kill himself, he died by the hand of a slave, 
just as he was on the point of being taken and delivered 
up to public justice. 

229. Henry III. of England. — Under whose reign 
did the "House of Commons" begin? Ans. Under 
Henry III. of England. 

Henry III., son of King John, who was called Lackland, 
came to the throne in 1216, when only nine years of age, 
the Earl of Pembroke being appointed protector during 
the young monarch's minority. Henry's disposition, 
which was easy and fickle, led him and his subjects into 
numerous difficulties and disasters. The weakness of his 
understanding scarcely preserved him from contempt; 
and joining profusion with oppressive exactions, and lav- 
ishing his favors on foreigners, he displeased both the no- 
bility and the populace. His reign was as unhappy as it 
was protracted, lasting more than fifty-five years, being 
marked by many bloody contentions. Henry's imprudent 
measures encouraged Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leices- 
ter, to attempt to wrest the sceptre from the feeble hand 
which held it. He succeeded in part ; and as the con- 
sequence of a battle he took the king and his son Edward 
— afterwards Edward I. — prisoners. But through the in- 
terference of Parliament which Leicester summoned, he 
deemed it prudent to release the prince, who was no 
sooner set at liberty than he took the field against the 
usurper, and gained over him the famous battle of Eves- 
ham. In this battle Leicester was killed, and the gallant 
Edward enjoyed the happiness of replacing his father on 
the throne. Leicester had compelled the king to resign 
the regal power, he assuming the character of regent. In 
the Parliament which was called, he summoned two 
knights from each shire, and deputies from the principal 
boroughs. From this era is dated the commencement 
of the "House of Commons." Deputies representing 



WHO? 



219 



the boroughs had not before constituted a portion of the 
national council. In the battle which took place between 
Prince Edward and Leicester, the rebels, who still retained 
the old king, had purposely placed him in the front of 
the battle. Being clad in armor, and therefore not known 
by his friends, he received a wound, and was in danger 
of his life ; but crying out, "I am Henry of Winchester, 
your king," he was rescued from impending death. 

230. Sir Francis Bacon. — Who did Pope call "The 
wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind" ? Ans. Sir Francis 
Bacon. 

Sir Francis Bacon was born on the 2 2d of January, 1561, 
in Westminster. His astonishing faculties were early de- 
veloped, and when only a child he was favorably noticed 
by Queen Elizabeth, who used to call him her " young 
lord keeper," alluding to the office held by his father. 
On the accession of James I., in 1603, he rose rapidly into 
power, — was knighted, and successively made attorney- 
general and keeper of the seals, lord chancellor, and raised 
to the peerage. His elevation excited the envy of his 
enemies, and he was accused of bribery and corruption 
in the office of lord chancellor. The consequence was 
that he was fined forty thousand pounds and sentenced 
to be imprisoned in the Tower. But his fine being re- 
mitted by the king, he was restored to public opinion, and 
sat in the first Parliament called by Charles. It is a mat- 
ter of some doubt whether he was guilty of the crime 
alleged against him. Bacon was indeed one of the greatest 
and most universal geniuses that any age or country has 
produced. As an author, his "Novum Organum Scien- 
tiarum" has, among his other performances, immortalized 
his name. He was the first who taught the proper way 
of studying the sciences ; that is, he pointed out the way 
in which we should begin and carry on our pursuit of 
knowledge in order to arrive at the truth. In this view 
he has been very properly denominated " The miner and 
sapper of philosophy," "The pioneer of nature," and 
" The priest of nature's mysteries." The great principles 
of the Baconian philosophy are now universally estab- 
lished. 

231. Sir John Barleycorn. — Who was "Sir John 



2 20 WHO, 



Barleycorn" ? Ans. This was a jocular name given to 
ale and beer in England and Scotland. 

232. John Bunyan. — Who was called the "Poor 
Tinker of Bedford"? Ans. John Bunyan. (See 37-7 
in "What?") 

233. Franz Joseph Gall. — Who was the founder of 
phrenology? Ans. Franz Joseph Gall. 

Franz Joseph Gall was born at Tiefenbrunn, in Baden, 
March 9, 1758; died at Montrouge, near Paris, August 
22, 1828. After literary studies at Baden and Bruchsal, 
he devoted himself especially to natural history and anat- 
omy at Strasburg under Hermann, and passed thence, in 
1785, to the medical school of Vienna, where he attended 
the lectures of Van Swieten and Stoll, and in the same 
year received the degree of doctor. He gradually ob- 
tained success in his profession, with leisure for gardening 
and study. While a boy he had been struck with the dif- 
ferences of character and talents displayed by his com- 
panions, and -after some time he observed, as he thought, 
that those students who excelled in committing pieces to 
memory all had large eyes. By degrees he suspected that 
the external peculiarities of the head corresponded to dif- 
ferences in the intellectual endowments and moral quali- 
ties, and disputed the theories of Aristotle, Van Helmont, 
Descartes, and Drelincourt, who fixed the soul respect- 
ively in the heart, the stomach, the pineal gland, and 
the cerebellum. He began to examine the heads of those 
who had exhibited any striking mental peculiarities, in 
lunatic asylums, prisons, seats of learning, etc. He ex- 
tended, his observations to animals, and finally sought 
confirmation in the anatomy of the brain, of which he 
was the first to perceive the true structure. After twenty 
years he conceived that he had determined the intellec- 
tual dispositions corresponding to about twenty organs, 
that he had found the seat of these original faculties in 
the brain, and that they formed prominences or protuber- 
ances on the skull proportionate to their degree of ac- 
tivity. In 1 791 he published the first volume of a general 
medical work, and in 1796 began to lecture on his pecu- 
liar theory in Vienna, where its novelty made a great sen- 
sation. The first written account of it appeared in a 



WHO? 221 



letter published in " Der Deutsche Mercur" of Wieland, 
in 1798. About this time he gained his best disciple, 
Spurzheim, who gave great aid in the development and 
popular exposition of the doctrine. Dr. Gall continued 
his lectures till in 1802 they were interdicted by the Aus- 
trian government as dangerous to religion. He quitted 
Vienna in 1805, and in company with Spurzheim, who 
was his associate till 181 2, traveled in central and north- 
ern Europe, lecturing in the principal towns, especially 
where there were universities, and arrived at Paris in 1807. 
He established himself there as a medical practitioner, 
and delivered a course of lectures before a large audience. 
His principles, however, met with much opposition. In 
1808 he presented to the institute his " Recherches sur le 
Systeme nerveux en general, et sur celui du Cerveau en 
particulier," and published it in the following year. In 
1823 he made a short visit to London, where the receipts 
from his lectures were less than the expenses. The most 
celebrated of his works is the " Anatomie et Physiologie 
du Systeme nerveux," in four volumes. 



19^ 



WHERE? 



1. Mahomet. — Where is he buried ? Ans. In Mecca, 
on the Red Sea. (See 113 in "Who?") 

2. Logic. — Where was it first made a science ? Ans. 
In India. 

3. Jupiter. — W T here did he hold his court? Ans. On 
Mount Olympus. (See 167 in "Who?") 

4. Kings and Emperors. — Where was their residence 
in Rome ? Ans. On Palatine Hill. 

5. "Bridge of Sighs." — Where is it? Ans. In 
Venice. It is the covered passage-way between the Doge's 
Palace and the Prison, where prisoners of state were se- 
creted. It was called the "Bridge of Sighs" because 
those who once crossed it were certain their doom was 
sealed, that never again would they breathe the air of free- 
dom. From the palace to the gloomy prison is but a step ; 
one might almost leap over the canal that separates the 
two. The ponderous "Bridge of Sighs" crosses it at 
the second story, and is nothing more than a covered 
tunnel, for one cannot be seen when one walks in it. It 
is partitioned in the centre. Through one compartment 
walked such as bore light sentences in ancient times, and 
through the other marched sadly the unhappy men whom 
the Council of Three had doomed to lingering misery 
and utter oblivion in the dungeons, or to sudden and 
mysterious death. 

6. Bells. — Where were they first invented? Ans. In 
Nola, east of Naples. 

7. Tomb of Sir Walter Scott.— Where is it ? Ans. 
In Dryburgh Abbey. (See 3 in " Who ?") 

8. Crown Jewels of England. — Where are they 
kept ? Ans. In the Jewel House in London, which was 

222 



WHERE ? 



223 



built in 1842. Prior to this they were preserved in a room 
called Jewel Tower, in the Tower of London. (See 35 in 
"What?") 

9. Mary, Queen of Scots. — Where was she be- 
headed? Ans. At Fotheringay Castle. The young and 
noble Courtney, Earl of Devonshire, was imprisoned in 
this same castle. (See 104 in "What?") 

10. Galileo. — Where is he buried ? Ans. In Florence, 
in the church of " Santa Croce." (See 34 in " What?") 
Michael Angelo is also buried there. (See 125 in "Who?") 

11. King Arthur. — Where did he hold his court? 
Ans. In Camelot, a parish in Somersetshire. (See 141 
in "What?") 

12. Abelard and Heloise. — Where are they buried ? 
Ans. These two unfortunate lovers now rest in the national 
burying-ground of France, called " Pere La Chaise." 
Abelard was first buried at Cluny, in 11 44, and afterwards 
his body was removed to the monastery of the Paraclete. 
He died twenty-five years before the unhappy woman 
whom his love ruined, but at her death his tomb was 
again opened, to admit the coffin of Heloise, as she ex- 
pressed a wish on her death-bed to be buried with him. 
There is an old tradition at Quincy, the parish near No- 
gent-sur-Seine, in which the monastery of the Paraclete 
is situated, that at the moment of her interment Abelard 
opened his arms to receive the impassioned creature that 
once had loved him so ardently, and whom he had loved 
with a remorse so memorable. The epitaph then placed 
over them is singularly solemn in its brief simplicity : 
" Here, under the same marble slab, lie the founder of 
this monastery, Pierre Abelard, and its earliest abbess, 
Heloise, once united in studies, in love, in their unhappy 
nuptial engagements, and in penitential sorrow ; but now, 
our hope is, reunited forever in bliss." Pierre Abelard 
was born in Brittany in 1079, and became celebrated for 
his learning and misfortunes. He was one of the most 
eminent divines of the twelfth century, though his conduct 
ill agreed with his sacred profession. He was weakly vain 
of his personal and mental accomplishments, but his most 
notorious failings relate to his conduct towards the beautiful 
Heloise. She lived with her uncle Fulbert, a canon of the 



224 WHERE? 



Cathedral of Paris, and was educated in a convent, where 
most of her days in early life were passed. When she 
came out of the convent her beauty and accomplishments 
drew much attention upon herself from the great world 
of Paris. Near the time that she came from the cloister, 
a fresh, blooming, modest girl, Pierre Abelard, then a 
famous rhetorician, came to found a school in Paris. The 
originality of his principles, his eloquence, and above all, 
perhaps, his great physical strength and beauty, created a 
profound sensation in the gay city. He saw the charming 
Heloise, and was captivated by her unstudied ways, and 
at once laid siege to her heart ; and he a priest, and for- 
bidden to marry ! His school was near Fulbert's house, 
and he asked permission to call. The uncle soon after 
put his niece under the handsome priest's care, who will- 
ingly consented to teach her the knowledge for which her 
young soul yearned. Alas I he won his way to her heart, 
and when the uncle learned with horror that Abelard had 
seduced his niece, and that all Paris rung with the love- 
songs of Abelard to Heloise, he drove the scoundrel with 
fury from his house. Abelard then carried her away to 
Palaise, in Brittany, where she soon gave birth to a son. 
The girl's flight enraged the uncle, who loved her dearly, 
but feared to take the vengeance for which he longed lest 
retaliation should touch Heloise. At length Abelard 
offered to marry Heloise upon one condition, — that the 
marriage should be kept a secret from the world, so that 
while her fair name was blighted, his priestly reputation 
should not suffer. At first the marriage was refused, the 
niece being sure that her uncle would divulge the secret 
to save her reputation. Her love for her seducer was so 
noble and self-sacrificing that she did not wish in any way 
to stand between him and the fame he had won. At last 
she was overruled, and a private marriage was solemnized. 
As she expected, her uncle proclaimed the marriage, but 
to save her lover she, with him, denied it. Fulbert was 
in despair, for of course no one believed his story when 
the parties most interested declared it untrue. Fulbert, 
whose sense of honor was taxed beyond endurance, then 
" hired certain ruffians to fall upon Abelard by night, and 
inflict upon him a terrible and nameless mutilation." 



WHERE ? 



225 



The woman who had borne so much for him then entered 
a convent, and for twelve years never even heard the loved 
name mentioned. She had become a prioress of Argen- 
teuil, "but on account of her too easy government of 
her nuns some disreputable irregularities were discovered 
among them, and the abbot of Saint Denis broke up her 
establishment." When Abelard heard of her homeless 
condition, he placed her in the little oratory of the Para- 
clete, which he had founded. The gentle Heloise here 
built up a wealthy and flourishing nunnery. She became 
a great favorite with the heads of the church, and though 
at first she suffered many hardships, her winning and for- 
giving disposition brought her many influential friends. 
The Pope so honored her that he made her the head of 
her order. As she rose in the public esteem the man who 
had blighted her youth fell. He, the priest of splendid 
talents, became timid, irresolute, and distrustful of his 
powers. Heloise retained to the last days of her life her 
wonderful affection for Abelard, though he returned it 
with a coldness and indifference which must excite the 
indignation of every one. Whilst he languished during 
the latter years of his life under the unmanly vengeance 
of the uncle of Heloise, he forgot that she, once virtuous, 
had sacrificed her name and honor and happiness to his 
passion. He died at sixty-four, uncared for and unloved 
except by her. She had his body moved from Cluny to 
the Paraclete. After the bodies of Abelard and Heloise 
had been entombed three hundred years, we read of their 
being removed. Again, in 1800, another change was 
made in their resting-place. Finally, seventeen years 
afterwards, they were taken up the third time, and placed 
in Pere La Chaise. The writings of Abelard are mostly 
on subjects of theology or logic. 

13. Canova and Titian. — Where is Canova buried? 
Ans. In Venice, in the church of "Santa Maria dei 
Frari." The heart of the great painter Titian is in the 
same church. 

1. Antonio Canova, a celebrated Italian sculptor, 
was born at Possagno, in Venetia, on the 1st of November, 
1757, and was the son of P. Canova, an architect and 
sculptor. He was a student in the studios of Torretti 

K* 



226 WHERE? 



and Ferrari, of Venice. When about twenty-one years 
of age he executed a group of "Daedalus and Icarus," 
which was so greatly admired in Venice that he exhibited 
it the next year in Rome. In 1782 he removed his studio 
to Rome, and increased his celebrity by his group of 
" Theseus and the Minotaur," which announced the re- 
generation of modern sculpture. Then followed a monu- 
ment of Pope Clement XIV., in 1787, and numerous 
groups of subjects from ancient mythology, among which 
are "Cupid and Psyche," "The Graces," and "Venus 
and Adonis." In 1802 he was invited to Paris by Na- 
poleon Bonaparte, of whom he executed an admirable 
statue, which came into the possession of the Duke of 
Wellington. He was chosen an associate of the Institute 
of France. In 1805 he produced an exquisite figure of 
"Venus Victorious," with the features of Pauline Bona- 
parte. In 1810 he went to Paris to "make the portrait" 
of the empress Maria Louisa. On his return to Rome he 
was chosen president of the Academy of Saint Luke. Five 
years later the Pope sent him to Paris to reclaim the works 
of art of which the French had despoiled the galleries 
of Italy. Soon after this event he received the title of 
Marquis of Ischia. He afterwards executed a statue of 
our own Washington, which is not unworthy of his fame. 
Having produced fifty statues, as many busts, besides 
numerous groups, etc., he died at Venice in October, 
1822, with the reputation of the greatest sculptor of his 
age. 

2. Titian. (See 147-3 in "What?") 

14. Protestant. — Where did the name first originate? 
Am. At the Diet at Spires. 

15. Largest Bell in the World. — Where is it? 
Am. At the foot of the Iron Tower in the great palace 
of the Kremlin, Moscow. 

There are so many different stories in regard to this 
bell that it is almost impossible to arrive at the truth of 
its history. In 1837 the Czar Nicholas had it taken out 
of the deep pit in which it had lain for years, and placed 
it upon a granite pedestal. The breadth of this bell is so 
great — twenty feet across — that it has been consecrated, 
and is used as a chapel, the entrance to which is through 



WHERE ? 



227 



an aperture caused by the falling out of a portion of the 
bell. In the thickest part it measures two feet through, 
and is ornamented by relief pictures of the Empress An- 
nie, the Saviour, the Virgin Mary, and the Evangelists. 
It was first cast in 1553, and only weighed thirty-six thou- 
sand pounds. As to whether it was ever hung or not 
authorities seem to differ ; but we are told it has fallen, 
through fire, three times. The second time it fell was in 
1733, when it was broken into fragments. It lay on the 
ground some thirty years before anything was again done 
with it. When it was recast the last time it weighed forty- 
four thousand pounds. It was only in place four years 
when it had another fall, after which the Czar placed it 
on a sure foundation, where it is likely to continue to all 
generations. This wonderful bell is a mountain of metal, 
and the estimated cost of it is over three hundred thou- 
sand dollars. It is said that it contains a large propor- 
tion of gold and silver, for while it was in fusion the 
nobles and the people cast in as votive offerings their 
jewels, plate, and money. It is regarded with supersti- 
tious veneration by the natives, and they would not even 
allow a grain of the precious metal to be filed off. 

16. The Inquisition. — Where was it first established ? 
Ans. The Inquisition first made its appearance in France 
under the reign of Philip II., who came to the throne in 
1 1 80. From France it found its way into Italy, Spain, 
and Portugal. 

17. Parchment. — Where was it first made ? Ans. In 
Pergamus, an ancient city of Mysia, in Asia Minor, noted 
for the number and magnificence of its buildings. Sub- 
sequently, after the battle of Issus, Pergamus became the 
capital of a kingdom, and continued to flourish as an in- 
dependent state for more than a hundred and fifty years, 
till conquered by the Romans 120 B.C. It was destroyed 
during the Turkish wars, but its extensive ruins are still 
visible. (See 174 in "What?") 

18. Tapestry. — Where was it first worked? Ans. In 
Pergamus. (See 17 in "Where?") 



WHEN? 



i. Marriage. — When was it forbidden to bishops? 
Ans. In 692. 

It was not forbidden to the priests until 1015, and they 
were not obliged to take the vow of celibacy till 1073. 
In 1 138 the penalty for priests marrying was deprivation 
of their benefits and exclusion from the celebration of the 
divine service. 

2. Pianos. — When were they first invented ? Ans. 
In Dresden, in 1727. 

Frederico, an organ-builder of Saxony, made the first 
square piano in 1758. 

3. Wedding-ring. — Why is it worn on the third 
finger of the left hand ? Ans. There was an ancient 
superstition that there was a mysterious connection be- 
tween this finger and the cords of the human heart. 

4. Temple of Diana. — When was it burned ? Ans. 
On the night that Alexander the Great was born, July 6, 
355 B.C. (See 41-2 in "What?" and 8 in "How?") 

5. Reign of Terror in France. — When was it? 
Ans. It began on the death of Louis XVI., who was 
guillotined on the 21st of January, 1793. 

In the previous September, 1792, France had been de- 
clared a republic by a new body, called the National 
Convention. Almost the first thing this convention did 
was to sentence their king to death, through the influence 
of that monster, the Due d'Orleans, one of the princes 
of the blood. The notorious Robespierre, a name that 
is saturated with infamy, soon took the control of things, 
and made blood flow like water to satisfy his greed of 
228 



WHEN? 229 



everything bad and terrible. Factions soon arose in the 
convention, and their mutual jealousy led to the most 
fearful consequences. Besides the countless massacres of 
the rich and noble, and generally of those who opposed 
the revolutionary fury, the parties in the convention 
sought the destruction of one another. Each successive 
faction, as it triumphed, was at length put down and 
made to answer with blood the cruelties which it had 
committed. The convention in its acts outraged de- 
cency, and rendered its infamy immortal by renouncing 
the Christian religion. During this " reign of terror" the 
French queen, Marie Antoinette (see 103 in "What?"), 
was beheaded, and Madame Elizabeth, sister of Louis 
XVI., perished by the axe on the 4th of February, 1794. 
Robespierre, the monster who exercised the longest and 
most terrific sway, was assisted in his villainies by Danton 
and Marat first, and afterwards by Collot d'Herbois, Bil- 
laud-Varennes, Couthon, and St. Just. The party which 
was opposed to Robespierre in the convention, called 
the Girondin, fell under his merciless touches, and suf- 
fered the death in their turn that they had inflicted with 
so much enjoyment on their fellows. Among the Giron- 
dists who perished was the infamous Due d' Orleans, who 
had been the means of the death of the inoffensive Louis. 
He smiled at his condemnation, and made but one re- 
quest, which was that his punishment should not be de- 
layed till the following day. On his way to the guillotine 
he braved the insults of the multitude whose "contempt- 
ible idol" he had so long been, and perished without the 
smallest remorse of conscience. Robespierre and his party 
were at length put down, and of all the actors and vic- 
tims of the revolution he suffered the most in the circum- 
stances of his death, and was, as might be expected, the 
least pitied. In attempting to destroy himself with a 
pistol he dreadfully mangled his jaw, and while over- 
whelmed with indescribable agony from the wound he 
was conveyed to the place of execution, where he had 
witnessed so many pleasant parties ( ! ) given by his own 
orders, surrounded by a populace mad with joy. With 
him perished eighty-three of his associates. 



230 



WHEN? 



6. Prince of Wales. — When was this title first 
given? Ans. In 1272, by Edward I. 

The oldest son of the reigning king of England re- 
ceives this title. 

7. St. Bartholomew's Day. — When did this terri- 
ble massacre take place in Paris? Ans. On the night of 
the 24th of August, 1572. 

Seven years before, in 1565, Catherine de Medicis and 
the Duke of Alva met at Bayonne. It was then decided 
by the wickedest woman and the harshest man in Europe 
that government could not be safe nor religion honored 
unless by the introduction of the inquisition and a general 
massacre of heretics in every land. For seven years Cath- 
erine pondered these things in her heart, and at last per- 
suaded her son, Charles IX., that the time had come to 
establish his kingdom in righteousness by the indiscrimi- 
nate murder of all the Protestants in France. In 1572 the 
occasion so long sought presented itself, as Henry of Na- 
varre was coming to France to marry Margaret de Valois, 
the sister of Charles and daughter of Catherine. This 
great event of course attracted all the heads of the Hugue- 
not cause to Paris, and held out a prospect of soothing 
the religious troubles so long rife between the Protestants 
and the Romanists. Everything turned out as Catherine 
noped. There had been feasts and gayeties, and suspi- 
cions had been thoroughly disarmed. Suddenly the toc- 
sin was sounded, and the murderers let loose over the 
city. Hospitality, friendship, relationship, youth, sex, all 
were disregarded. Such another fiendish act was never 
perpetrated in either a Christian or a heathen nation. 
Only two years before had Charles married Elizabeth, the 
daughter of the Emperor Maximilian II., and made over- 
tures which resulted in a treaty of peace with the Hugue- 
nots. The terms were favorable to the latter ; but it is 
generally believed that the treaty was part of a scheme 
of deeply-meditated treachery, — on the part of Catherine 
at least. The streets of Paris were red with blood, and 
upwards of seven thousand five hundred were butchered in 
that city alone, and the metropolitan example was followed 
in other places. The deed was so awful that for awhile 



WHEN? 



231 



its very suddenness silenced all Europe. Some doubted, 
some shuddered, but Rome sprang up with a shout of joy 
when the news was confirmed, and uttered prayers of 
thanksgiving for so great a victory.* 



* White's " Eighteen Christian Centuries." Sir Francis Walsingham 
was the English minister in Paris at the time of the massacre, and many 
Protestants sought and obtained shelter in his house, among them the 
elegant and knightly Sir Philip Sidney. 



WHICH? 



1. Town. — Which is the oldest in the world? Arts. 
Heliopolis, in Egypt. 

2. Diamond. — Which is the largest in the world ? 
Ans. The Florentine diamond, owned by Austria. This 
is among the treasures of the emperor's palace at Vienna. 
It was lost by a duke of Burgundy upon the battle-field 
of Granson ; found by a soldier, who parted with it for 
five florins; it was sold again, and found its way at last 
to the royal treasury of Florence, whence it was brought 
to Vienna. Its weight is one hundred and thirty-nine 
and a half carats, and its value one million forty-three 
thousand three hundred and thirty-four florins. A florin 
is an ancient gold coin of Edward III., of six shillings 
sterling value. 

3. Montgomeries. — Which of them, James or Rob- 
ert, is the writer of sacred poetry ? Ans. James Mont- 
gomery. (See 42-4 in "Who?") 

4. Grecian Oracles. — Which of them is the most 
celebrated ? Ans. The Delphic, at Delphi. 

5. Seven Wise Men of Greece. — Which of them 
was famed for his meekness ? Ans. Solon. 

6. Reigns. — Which are the two longest on record? 
Ans. That of George III. of England, who reigned sixty 
years, and that of Louis XIV. of France, who held the 
sceptre seventy-two years. 

1. George III. succeeded his grandfather in 1760, in 
his eighteenth year. England was ruled by the four 
Georges during a period of one hundred and sixteen 
years ; their sway seemed almost interminable. George 
III.'s reign is distinguished as a period of important 
232 



WHICH? 233 



events, and of the nation's advancement in power, wealth, 
commerce, and the arts. The resources of the British in 
their great contests during this period appear to have been 
incapable of exhaustion. George began his reign at a 
favorable time, when the arms of England were trium- 
phant, and when the powerful and able Lord Chatham was 
at the head of the government. Pitt, or as he afterwards 
became, Lord Chatham, continued his ministry from the 
20th of October, 1756, to the 5th of October, 1761. Upon 
his resignation violent political dissensions arose, which 
were increased upon the retirement of the Duke of New- 
castle. An ill-judged course of policy pursued by the 
ministry towards the American colonies gave rise to 
those little differences which grew into larger ones, and 
finally ended in the separation of the young colonies from 
the mother-country. The war for independence com- 
menced in 1775, and continued till England was obliged 
to acknowledge our independence in 1783. The elo- 
quence of Pitt was arrayed against the unjust and op- 
pressive measures of the British Parliament. But his 
counsels were not heeded, and he preached in vain ; as 
many a good and great man has done before and since. 
In the Colonial war, France and Holland, after a time, 
formed an alliance with the American government and 
took part in the contention. Though England thus lost 
important foreign possessions and increased her public 
debt (from one hundred and forty-six millions to two hun- 
dred and fifty-seven millions sterling), yet she lost nothing 
in her contest with other powers ; her commerce and her 
resources were constantly extending, and her plucky spirit 
was equal to every effort. India was added to Great 
Britain before her contentions were begun in America. 
The British East India Company, prior to the year 1766, 
conquered and took possession of the kingdoms of Ben- 
gal, together with Bahar and part of Orissa, a large and 
flourishing country, containing about ten millions of peo- 
ple, and producing an immense revenue. These terri- 
tories afterwards received a very great addition as the 
fruits of several wars which the Company had with the 
natives. Hyder Aly and his son Tippoo opposed the 
British encroachments, which was natural, seeing they 

20* 



234 WHICHi 



owned the most of it, but they were obliged to submit 
to superior prowess; then, too, Tippoo was slain, thus 
ending his personal interest in his dominion. The Irish 
rebellion in 1798, and the subsequent union in 1800 of 
Ireland and Great Britain, were also important events 
in the reign of George III. In 1789 began the great 
French revolution, when Napoleon came near conquer- 
ing the whole of Europe. From the first, George with 
his powerful ministry, with William Pitt at its head, op- 
posed him on sea and land. Nelson fought his marine 
battles of the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar, and Wel- 
lington those of Salamanca, Vittoria, and Waterloo. (See 
32 in "What?") While the resources of Great Britain 
were called forth in the great European contest, she found 
or made an enemy in the United States. The long de- 
pending disputes between the two nations respecting com- 
mercial rights terminated in hostilities, which were com- 
menced by the United States in the summer of 181 2, by 
an attack on Canada. This war, though not very vigor- 
ously prosecuted, inasmuch as the affairs of Europe en- 
grossed the attention of the English ministry, was never- 
theless marked by considerable acrimony. It continued 
till the last of the year 18 14. During the last ten years 
of the reign of George he was reduced to helplessness 
by an inveterate insanity. Until his death, his son, the 
Prince of Wales, acted as regent. The old king died on 
the 29th of January, 1820. The sickness and death of 
his youngest and favorite daughter Amelia, aided by the 
advance of age and the toils and anxieties of state, were 
too much for the king's constitution, and his reason gave 
way. He was a good monarch, guided by religious prin- 
ciple, and was honored and beloved as the father of his 
people. His natural endowments were not great, though 
he possessed good sense and a cultivated mind. The 
Princess Amelia, on her death-bed, presented her father 
with a ring, requesting him to wear it in remembrance of 
her affection. 

2. Louis XIV. (See 200 in "Who?") 
7. Cathedral. — Which is the largest in the world? 
Ans. That of St. Peter's, in Rome. 

St. Peter's was begun under the imperial direction of 



WHICH? 



235 



Julius II., in the year 1506. The first architect was the 
celebrated Italian Bramante, an uncle of Raphael. Bra- 
mante only lived a year after the project was contem- 
plated, but such was his zeal and industry that not only 
was the design completed, but the architect had erected 
the four great piers and their connecting arches. Its erec- 
tion spread over the reigns of twenty Popes, and was car- 
ried on by twelve different architects. It was planned by 
Bramante in the form of a Greek cross, with a hexastyle 
portico and a cupola in the centre. This design, to the 
great regret of many Italians, was lost sight of by those 
who succeeded him. Raphael changed it to a Latin cross, 
and Michael Angelo returned to the original Greek cross, 
and added the majestic dome. Giacomo della Porta com- 
pleted the dome, and Maderno again returned to the Latin 
cross plan and added the facade. Of all parts of the 
building the work of the last architect is the most open 
to criticism, for the front, as "seen from the piazza, is so 
prominent as almost to hide the dome. The situation of 
St. Peter's is singularly unfortunate, being built in a hollow 
surrounded on three sides with hills ; so that the exterior 
view does not show the superb church to advantage. But 
the interior is unrivaled for grandeur and beauty, and 
here are to be found some of the finest specimens of 
mosaics that are in existence. Beneath the dome stands 
the high altar, under a canopy of solid bronze, covered 
with the richest ornaments. The building was dedicated 
by Urban VIII. in 1626. To enter into the dry detail 
of such a pile of architecture frightens one at the begin- 
ning, and figures, although always considered unsatisfac- 
tory, are given notwithstanding. The length of the in- 
terior is 613 feet; breadth of the nave and aisles, in- 
cluding the pilasters that divide them, 197^ f eet \ height 
of the nave, 152 feet ; length of the transepts, 446^ feet; 
diameter of the dome, including the walls, 195 feet, or 
nearly two feet mere than that of the Parthenon in the in- 
terior; the dome is 139 feet, or three feet less than that 
of the Parthenon ; height from the pavement to the base 
of the lantern, 405 feet, and to the summit of the cross 
outside, 448. Its immense size is not perceived or real- 
ized on account of the exquisite proportions of the whole, 



236 WHICH? 



and the colossal dimensions of the statues in the niches, 
and the mosaics on the dome. Architecture never pro- 
duced a more noble or magnificent object than the glorious 
cupola, viewed in its design, its altitude, or even its deco- 
ration. The ascent to the top of the church is so gradual 
as to be accessible to persons on horseback ; from thence 
the dome is reached by a succession of ingeniously con- 
trived staircases. The semi-circular colonnades on each 
side of the piazza in front of the church form, along with 
the covered galleries that extend from them to the portico, 
a magnificent approach to St. Peter's.* The church is 
built of a peculiar stone, called " aqueous stone," which 
is a coarse-grained stone, of warm color, found in large 
blocks, and extensively used in Rome, both in ancient 
and modern buildings. 



* Iconographic Encyclopaedia. 



HOW? 



1. Women of Babylon. — How were they disposed 
of in marriage? Ans. No man had any power over his 
own daughters, but as soon as they were marriageable 
they were put up at auction and sold. The price obtained 
for the most beautiful ones was assigned as a dowry for 
the homely ones. Thus all were disposed of : the beautiful 
for their charms, the ugly for their wealth. 

2. Pyramids. — How many are there? Ans. There 
are twenty in different parts of Egypt ; three superior 
to the rest in size and magnitude. These are on the 
western side of the Nile, in the neighborhood of the an- 
cient Memphis. The largest is four hundred and eighty- 
one feet in height. They have been proved to be royal 
sepulchres, but their foundation is lost in antiquity. 
They are supposed to have been erected iooo or 2000 
years B.C. It is said by Pliny and Diodorus that no 
less than three hundred and sixty thousand men were em- 
ployed in erecting the largest one. (See 41 in " What ?") 

3. Punic Wars. — How many were there? Ans. 
Three. 

4. How long did they last ? Ans. The first one twenty- 
three years ; the second one seventeen years ; the third 
one four years. 

Between the first and second there was a peace of 
twenty-three years, when the temple of Janus was closed 
for the second time only since the foundation of Rome. 
(See 94 in "What?") 

5. Rape of the Sabines. — How did Romulns sup- 
ply the lack of women after he had founded Rome ? Ans. 
In the want of women he proposed intermarriage with the 

237 



2 3 8 



HO W? 



Sabines, his neighbors. This was quietly but firmly re- 
jected, and he tried the effect of intrigue and force. In- 
viting the neighboring tribes to witness some magnificent 
spectacle in the city, he had the pleasure of seeing the 
Sabines with their wives and daughters among the first to 
be present. At the proper time and at a given signal the 
Roman youths rushed among them with drawn swords, 
seized the youngest and the handsomest of the women, 
and carried them off by force. Of course there was war 
and bloodshed afterwards, but what cared the Romans, 
so long as they had accomplished their object ? 

6. Palace of the Prado, in Madrid. — How came 
so many valuable pictures there ? Ans. Ferdinand VII. 
of Spain thought his palace would be greatly improved 
and look much fresher if the walls were covered with 
French paper, so he removed all the beautiful pictures, 
with which the walls were hung, and sent them to the 
empty building on the Prado, which his grandfather 
had built for a museum. As soon as the glorious collec- 
tion was exposed to the gaze of the world, its incontesta- 
ble merit was at once recognized. Especially were the 
works of Velasquez, hitherto almost an unknown name in 
Europe, admired and appreciated. Ferdinand, finding 
he had done a clever thing unawares, began to affect the 
patron of arts. This is not only the greatest collection 
of masterpieces in the world, but the greatest that can 
be made till this is broken up.* (See 98 in "What ?") 

7. Henry VIII. of England. — How many wives 
had he? Ans. Six. (See 80 in " What ?") 

8. Temple of Diana. — How long was it in build- 
ing ? Ans. Two hundred and twenty years. 

The Temple of Diana was in Ephesus, and was counted 
among the seven wonders of the world. (See 41 in 
"What ?") The roof was supported by one hundred and 
twenty-seven columns sixty feet high, placed there by so 
many kings. Erostratus burned the temple merely to 
eternize his name. It rose from its ruins with augmented 
splendor. 

9. Mosaics. — How many kinds are there? Ans. 



* John Hay's " Castilian Days." 



HOW? 



2 39 



There are four varieties, — the Florentine, the Roman, 
the Byzantine, and Venetian. The two most distinct are 
the Florentine and the Roman. The Florentine is formed 
of stones of the natural color, cut into the required form. 
For example, the petal of a jessamine will be seen to be 
complete, and not formed of other smaller stones; the 
calyx will be of one green stone ; a daisy of a white one, 
with the stamens green ; and therefore this style is chiefly 
confined to floral designs and arabasque. The Florentine 
mosaics are the choicest in the world. In the Roman 
mosaics the field is larger. There is a factory in Rome 
in which are made these minute stones or smalts — the 
technical name of which is tesserae — of which the mosaics 
are cut, and here as many as twenty-five thousand shades 
of these stones are produced. They are generally opaque. 
They are put together as tiles, with cement, and large or 
microscopically small copies of pictures can be made with 
them. The Byzantine is much used in church decoration. 
The Venetian mosaic is not held in such esteem as the 
others. A gold stone, manufactured to imitate the real 
powdered bronze, enters largely into the Venetian mosaic. 
It is used in ornamenting furniture and table-tops, — but 
the design is too rococo to please cultivated tastes. The 
men who piece together these beautiful trifles die early, 
as do the lace-makers, because the labor is so confining 
and so exhaustive to hand and brain. The art of working 
in mosaic is so old that its origin is unknown. The 
Romans had it from the Greeks, but beyond that it is 
obscure. 

10. Milton. — How many wives had he? Ans. He 
had three. The first was a vixen. The second only lived 
a year. The third took the tenderest care of the blind 
old man, and outlived him by many years. (See 38 in 
"Who?") 

11. Charles Dickens. — How old was he when he 
wrote the "Pickwick Papers"? Ans. He was only 
twenty-two. 

Charles Dickens, one of the greatest novelists that 
England ever produced, was born in Landport, a suburb 
of Portsmouth, England, on the 7th of February, 181 2. 
He died at Gad's Hill, in the city of Rochester, in 



24-0 



HOW? 



Kent, on Thursday, June 9, 1870, and was buried in 
Westminster Abbey five days later. Charles was the 
second of six children, and the son of John and Eliza- 
beth Dickens. His father was a government clerk in 
Landport, and after the ending of the war with Napoleon 
in 1815, retired upon a pension, and occupied himself by 
reporting for the London press, in which Charles soon 
assisted him, and became distinguished in this line. 
Dickens is said to have taken his character of Mrs. 
Nickleby from his mother, who resembled the happy, 
irresponsible Mrs. Nickleby so closely as to be readily 
recognized by her intimate friends. In 1835 he was 
engaged as reporter for the " Morning Chronicle." In 
this paper he first evinced his talents, and published 
" Sketches of English Life and Character." Later these 
appeared as " Sketches by Boz." *i Boz" was a corruption 
of his youngest brother's name, Moses, who came to 
America, and settled in Chicago. A little sister, who 
could not speak Moses, lisped always " Boz," which so 
amused her eldest brother, Charles, that he incorporated 
it in his own name, and signed it to his writings. Dick- 
ens was a very rapid short-hand reporter, having, like 
David Copperfield, worked hard and faithfully to acquire 
the stenographic art. The success of the " Sketches by 
Boz" was so great that one of the firm of Chapman & 
Hall, booksellers, proposed to him to write a story after 
the same plan. This was the origin of the famous " Pick- 
wick Papers," which were begun when he was only 
twenty-two, and in three years' time placed him at the 
head of English popular novelists. It was to be published 
monthly, in shilling numbers, and bound in green paper~ 
covers. It made its debut on the last day of March, 1836, 
and consisted of thirty-two pages, with four illustrations. 
"The success of Pickwick was by no means rapid and 
decided, as is generally supposed. The publishers did 
not advertise it extensively enough, and, though cheap 
and within the range of all, the sale was comparatively 
small."* It was not till Sam Wellerwas introduced that it 
attracted general attention, and "rose to an unheard-of 

* " Life of Dickens," by R. Shelton Mackenzie. 



HOW? 



241 



popularity." The publishers netted nearly twenty thou- 
sand pounds out of it, besides paying the author thirty-five 
hundred pounds. Dickens was very fond of the stage, and 
often acted in private theatricals. In 1837, he became 
editor of " Bentley's Miscellany," and in it published 
" Oliver Twist," a story of life in the lowest dens of 
London, and in which figures Fagin the Jew, familiar to 
every reader. While still connected as editor with " Bent- 
ley's," Dickens married Catherina, a daughter of the Scot- 
tish lawyer George Hogarth, who was friend and adviser 
of Walter Scott. After his marriage he wrote " Nicholas 
Nickleby," exposing the cruelties of the cheap schools in 
Yorkshire under the graphically portrayed descriptions of 
Dotheboy's school. In 1844, Dickens went to Italy, and 
on his return in quick succession appeared "Dombeyand 
Son," with its Florence and little Paul, and " David Cop- 
perfield," with its Dora, depicting the struggles of a young 
literary man working for his bread and fame. This by 
some is thought to be a history of Dickens's own life in a 
great measure. "Bleak House," with its great chancery 
suit, came in 1853; "Little Dorrit," "Great Expecta- 
tions," "A Tale of Two Cities," and "Our Mutual 
Friend" are some of his other works. In " Old Curiosity 
Shop" we have a picture of child-life in little Nell, that for 
pathos and intensity of emotion has never been equaled by 
any otherwriter. In 1850 he started " Household Words," 
a weekly paper, which he continued some nine years, 
and to which the ablest writers of the day contributed. 
This was succeeded by "All the Year Round." also a 
weekly paper, which had a very large circulation. " The 
Mystery of Edwin Drood" was uncompleted at the time 
of Dickens's death. Like many another man whose brow 
was encircled with a wreath of laurels, his heart was made 
to pay the forfeit of his fame, and his domestic griefs 
were many and various, his wife being jealous of his sup- 
posed preference for her sister Georgiana. In 1858 Mr. 
and Mrs. Dickens separated by mutual consent. They 
had eleven or twelve children, and the oldest son, Charles, 
was to live with his mother and take care of her; the 
rest of the children to remain with the father. Dickens 
settled a generous allowance on his wife, and breathed 



242 



HOW? 



freer and happier when she left the home which should 
have received her brightest and tenderest care. Among 
his friends were Mark Lemon, Douglas Jerrold, Sergeant 
Talfourd, and John Forster. The two latter he cherished 
through life. He made two visits to America, — the first 
in 1842, after which appeared his " Martin Chuzzlewit," 
the most humorous of his works except " Pickwick Pa- 
pers." In this he gave the Americans many a hard hit, 
but we deserved them, and should not growl at people for 
telling us the honest truth, even if the pill is bitter; 
oftentimes the bitterer it is the sooner is the cure effected. 
But when Dickens came the second time he frankly and 
manfully acknowledged that we had improved "abom- 
inably," and said many soothing and complimentary 
things about us. His personal taste in dress was shock- 
ing. He wore " gay vests, glittering jewelry, showy satin 
stocks, and everything rather pronotice, yet he would keenly 
criticise these vulgarities in others." Queen Victoria, on 
the publication of her journal of the " Early Days of 
Albert, the Prince Consort," presented a copy of it to 
Mr. Dickens, with an autographic inscription, " From the 
humblest to the most distinguished author in England." 
Soon after, he was invited to visit her at Windsor. Here 
he passed a day, chatting tete-a-tete with his sovereign. 
While he was with her she offered him the baronetcy, 
which he declined, when she invited him to become a 
member of her "privy council," which entitles one to 
"Right Honorable" before his name. This also was 
firmly but respectfully refused. Dickens felt that he 
needed no empty titles to carry him down to posterity, 
as he had already received the stamp and seal as one of 
" Nature's greatest noblemen." When the news of his 
death reached Queen Victoria she telegraphed immedi- 
ately to Gad's Hill, expressing her sorrow and sympathy. 
Other members of the royal family did the same. Dean 
Stanley preached his funeral sermon, in Westminster Ab- 
bey, and he was buried in the Poets' Corner of the same. 
By his special request his funeral was without " pomp and 
parade," there being only thirteen mourners present, and 
it taking place at nine o'clock in the morning. 



WHAT? 



i. '« Shakspeare of Theology." — What writer has 
been thus called ? Ans. Martin Luther. 

Martin Luther was born in 1483. Died February 18, 
1546. He was destined by his father for the legal profes- 
sion, but the impression produced upon him by the fate 
of his friend Alexis, who was struck dead by lightning 
while walking by his side on the road from Mansfeld to 
Erfurt, uniting with the effect of his early religious edu- 
cation, induced him to devote himself to the monastic 
life. In 1505 he entered the Augustine monastery, and 
two years afterwards was ordained priest. In 1508 he 
was made Professor of Philosophy in the new university 
of Wittenburg, in which his powerful mind soon showed 
itself. Throwing off the fetters of the scholastic philos- 
ophy, he soon attracted many pupils. His profound learn- 
ing, together with the fame of his eloquence, made him 
known to the principal scholars of the age. His ninety- 
five propositions affixed to the church of Wittenburg 
Castle, October 31, 15 17, excited great attention, and 
were intended to stop the sale of indulgences by the 
Dominican Tetzel. They were condemned as heretical 
and burnt, but no threats could induce him to recant. 
He defended himself, as he was called to do, at the Diet 
of Worms, April, 15 21, before the emperor and a great 
number of princes and prelates of Germany. Leaving 
Worms, the Elector of Saxony conveyed him to the castle 
of Wartburg. Here Luther remained ten months, study- 
ing laboriously. Hence he returned to Wittenburg, where 
he published a sharp reply to Henry VIII., who had writ- 
ten a book against him on the seven sacraments. In 1529 

243 



244 WHAT? 



the emperor assembled another diet at Spires to check the 
progress of the new opinions. It was at this Diet of 
Spires that the name of Protestant first arose (see 14 in 
" Where?"), protest being made, on the part of the elec- 
toral princes who supported the Reformation, against the 
rigorous impositions brought forward by this assembly. 
After this the protesting princes determined to have a 
common confession of faith drawn up, which was accord- 
ingly prepared by Melancthon, and being presented at 
the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 was called "The Confes- 
sion of Augsburg." In 1534 Luther's translation of the 
Bible was published. At length, worn out more by labor 
than by age, he died at Wittenburg, in the sixty-third 
year of his useful and eventful life. His "Table Talk" 
is full of beauties and Christian truths.* 

2. "The Marvelous Boy." — What English writer 
was thus called? Ans. Thomas Chatterton. 

Thomas Chatterton was the son of a master of a free- 
school in Bristol, and was born November 20, 1752. His 
father died three months before he was born, and his edu- 
cation devolved entirely upon his mother, who discharged 
the trust most faithfully. When eight years old he was sent 
to a charity-school in Bristol, where he showed a powerful 
passion for books, reading before he was twelve some 
seventy, also writing verses which were wonderful for his 
years. At the age of fourteen he was bound apprentice to 
Mr. Lambert, a scrivener of Bristol, and all his leisure 
time was devoted to acquiring a knowledge of English an- 
tiquities and obsolete language, as a sort of preparation for 
the audacious fabrication he soon after palmed upon the 
world. He first attracted public attention in 1768. On 
the occasion of the new bridge at Bristol being opened, 
there appeared in the "Bristol Journal" an article pur- 
porting to be the transcript of an ancient manuscript, 
entitled "A Description of the Fryers first passing over 
the Old Bridge, taken from an Ancient Manuscript." 
This was traced to Chatterton, who said he had received 
the papers, together with many other manuscripts, from 
his father, who had found them in an iron chest in the 
Redcliffe Church, near Bristol, and that they were written 
by Thomas Rowley, a priest of the fifteenth century. 

* He married, in 1525, Catharina von Bora, who had been a nun. 



WHAT? 



245 



Having deceived many persons of literary pretensions in 
Bristol, he wrote to Horace Walpole in London, sending 
him some specimens of his Rowleian poetry and request- 
ing his patronage. The virtuoso, however, having shown 
the poetical specimens to Gray and Mason, who pro- 
nounced them to be forgeries, sent young Thomas a cold 
reply, advising him to stick to his professional business. 
In the mean time, Chatterton commenced a correspond- 
ence with the "Town and Country Magazine," to which 
he sent a number of communications relating to English 
antiquities. Every day his situation in Mr. Lambert's 
office became more irksome, and he obtained a release 
from his apprenticeship, his master the more readily let- 
ting him off, it is said, since he was alarmed by the hints 
Chatterton gave of destroying himself. In April, 1770, 
Chatterton, then seventeen years old, went to London, 
carrying with him many of his ancient manuscripts and 
some acknowledged original poems of his own. He re- 
ceived from the booksellers several important literary 
engagements, and his letters to his mother and sister were 
filled with the highest hopes and always accompanied with 
presents. But suddenly, like the flash of an aurora, his 
hopes died, his fair dreams of wealth and honor vanished. 
His poverty soon became distressing, he actually suffered 
from the want of food, and taking poison, was found dead 
in his bed on the 25th of August, 1770. Chatterton's 
chief poems, published under the name of Rowley, are 
"The Tragedy of Ella," "The Execution of Sir Charles 
Bawdin," "Ode to Ella," " The Battle of Hastings," etc. 
3. "The Lake Poets." — What three eminent poets 
have been thus called? Ans. William Wordsworth, 
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey. 

1. Wordsworth. (See 57 in "Who?") 

2. Coleridge. (See 40-1 in "What?") 

3. Robert Southey, a distinguished poet and prose- 
writer, was the son of a linen-draper in Bristol, where he 
was born, August 12, 1774. After going through the 
regular preparatory course of study he matriculated at Bal- 
liol College, Oxford, in 1792, with the design of entering 
the church ; but, as his religious views underwent a change, 
inclining to Unitarianism, he left the university in two 

21* 



246 WHAT? 



years' time, and in the same year published his first poem 
in conjunction with Robert Lovell. Joseph Cottle was 
his publisher, and describes him thus: "Tall, dignified, 
possessing great suavity of manners; an eye piercing, with 
a countenance full of genius, kindliness, and intelligence, 
never will the impression be effaced that this young man 
made on me." In November, 1795, ne married Miss 
Edith Fricker, of Bristol, the sister of Mrs. S. T. Cole- 
ridge and Mrs. Robert Lovell. She died in 1837, and 
two years later Southey married Caroline Bowles. In 
the winter of the same year, while he was on his way to 
Lisbon, his "Joan of Arc" was published. In the follow- 
ing summer he returned to Bristol, and in the next year 
removing to London, entered Gray's Inn. He passed 
part of the years 1800 and 1801 in Portugal, and on re- 
turning to England established himself at Keswick, in 
the Lake country, where he lived for the remainder of 
his life. In 1813, on the death of Pye, Southey was cre- 
ated poet-laureate. "He wrought at literature with all 
the regularity of a banker's clerk ; his day was duly ap- 
portioned among separate tasks, and these it was his de- 
light to fulfill with energy and punctuality." His prose 
is characterized by a clear, vigorous, manly, and graceful 
style; he wrote history, biography, poetry, criticism, and 
philosophy. He composed without ceasing, and his la- 
bors were so great that at last his mind gave way. For 
three years before his death he could not recognize those 
who had been his companions in his youth. He died at 
his residence in Keswick on the 21st of March, 1843, m 
the sixty-ninth year of his age, leaving a rich and valuable 
library and property to the amount of twelve thousand 
pounds, the fruit of his literary labors. "The Doctor," 
a remarkable book, is the work of his hand. 

4. Publisher. — What English poet was a publisher? 
Ans. Sir Walter Scott. (See 3 in " Who?") 

5. "The Corn-Law Rhymer."— What English 
poet has been thus called ? Ans. Ebenezer Elliott. 

Ebenezer Elliott was born in 1781, at Masborough, 
Yorkshire, where his father was a commercial clerk in the 
iron-works, on a salary of seventy pounds a year. He is 
said to have been very dull in his early years, and so 



WHAT? 247 



keenly to have felt his inferiority to his more gifted 
brother, George, as often to have wept bitterly on that 
account. He entered into business at Rotherham, but, 
being unsuccessful, he removed in 1821 to Sheffield, and 
made a second start in life as an ironmonger, on a bor- 
rowed capital of one hundred pounds. Elliott was suc- 
cessful this time, and in after-years built a fine house in 
the suburbs of Sheffield. In his seventeenth year he pub- 
lished his "Vernal Walk," his first production. But it 
was the great commercial distress of 1837 and 1838 that 
brought out the brave, strong spirit of Elliott. The cry 
for "cheap bread" rang from one end of the land to the 
other, and Elliott took a decided stand for the repeal 
of the corn-laws. Then he poured forth his celebrated 
" Corn-Law Rhymes," that did more than any other one 
thing to stir the heart and rouse the energies of the people 
against monopoly. He had the satisfaction in a few years 
to see the great object. of the " Corn-Law League" fully 
attained and free trade in breadstuffs completely estab- 
lished. He died on the 1st of December, 1849. His 
works are "Corn-Law Rhymes," "Love, a Poem," 
" Poetical Works," " More Verse and Prose by the Corn- 
Law Rhymer," in two volumes. 

6. "The Byron of Her Sex."— What poetess has 
been thus called? Ans. Mrs. Caroline Norton. 

Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan was born in 1808, 
and was a granddaughter of the celebrated Richard 
Brinsley Sheridan. In her seventeenth year she com- 
posed her poem, "The Sorrows of Rosalie." She early 
showed that she inherited the rich genius of her great 
ancestor. It has been said that she lost by death the one 
to whom she had given her heart, and in an unpropitious 
hour gave her hand to the Honorable George Chappel 
Norton. This marriage proved a most unhappy one, and 
in 1836 she dissolved it. For many years she was the 
object of suspicion and persecution of the most mortify- 
ing and painful kind. That her husband's treatment of 
her was unjustifiable no one acquainted with the history 
of this unfortunate union for a moment doubts. Mrs. 
Norton's next poem, founded on the legend of the "Wan- 
dering Jew," was called "The Undying One." In 1840 



248 WHAT? 



a third volume appeared, entitled " The Dream, and other 
Poems." These have given her a high rank among the 
female poets of England. The "Quarterly Review" 
says, " She is the Byron of our modern poetesses ; she 
has much of the intense personal passion that distinguishes 
Byron's poetry, and she has his beautiful intervals of 
tenderness." 

7. "The Quaker Poet."— What English bard has 
been thus called ? Ans. Bernard Barton. 

This celebrated Quaker poet was born in 1784, near 
London, and in 1806 removed to Woodbridge, where he 
was married. He was left a widower at the birth of his 
only child. In 1810 he entered the banking firm of 
the Messrs. Alexander, where he remained his entire life. 
There is very little interest in his private life ; he died of 
disease of the heart on the 19th of February, 1849. On 
the day of his death he appeared as well as usual, but 
soon after going into his room for the night he rang the 
bell for his servant, who on entering his chamber found 
him seated in an easy-chair panting for breath ; the phy- 
sician arrived only in time to see him breathe his last. 
His first volume of poems appeared in 181 1. His " House- 
hold Verses," which was published in 1845, contains per- 
haps more of his personal feelings than any previous pub- 
lication. Barton was known as a most amiable, genial, 
charitable man, of pure, unaffected piety, and was a wel- 
come guest wherever he presented himself. 

8. The Quaker Poet. — What American poet is thus 
called ? Am. John G. Whittier. 

John G. Whittier was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, 
in December, 1807. His family were members of the So- 
ciety of Friends. His early education was acquired at 
home, where, until his eighteenth year, he worked on the 
farm. He then spent two years studying at the town acad- 
emy, and in 1829 became editor of the " American Manu- 
facturer," at Boston ; a paper devoted to the maintenance 
of the tariff, then threatened with reduction. In 1830 he 
succeeded George D. Prentice as editor of the " New Eng- 
land Weekly Review," at Hartford, and wrote a brief 
memoir prefixed to a collection of Brainard's poems. 
This was not his only attempt at prose authorship. "The 



WHAT? 249 



Legends of New England" (Hartford, 183 1) was a col- 
lection of some of those early colonial and Indian tradi- 
tions from which he afterwards drew the subjects of many 
of his poems. His " Mogg Megone," " Bridal of Penna- 
cook," " Cassandra Southwick," and "Mary Garvin" all 
indicate a thorough familiarity with these materials for 
poetic pictures. He soon returned to the old homestead, 
and to the pursuit of the farm, diversified by two years' 
experience, 1835-36, as a member of the Massachusetts 
Legislature. In 1830 he published an essay entitled 
"Justice and Expediency, or Slavery Considered with a 
View to its Abolition." In common with the Quakers 
generally, Whittier held slavery in abhorrence, and the 
opprobrium then showered upon the abolitionists called 
forth his strongest sympathies in their behalf. In 1836 
he became identified with them, and was appointed sec- 
retary of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Soon after- 
wards he went to Philadelphia, where for some years he 
edited the " Pennsylvania Freeman," one of the organs 
of that society. In 1840 he established himself in Ames- 
bury, Massachusetts, where he has since resided, engaged 
in literary pursuits. He has been a prolific writer both 
in prose and poetry. He has written "Leaves from 
Margaret Smith's Journal," " Songs of Labor, and other 
Poems," " The Chapel of the Hermits, and other Poems," 
"Home Ballads, and other Poems," etc. "Barbara 
Frietchie" is one of his best poems, which excited great 
attention during the civil war of 1862. 

9. The Invincible Armada. — What was it? Ans. 
It was a famous naval expedition, fitted out by Philip II. 
of Spain for the invasion of England in the year 1588. 
This was during the reign of Elizabeth in England. 
(See 71 in "What?") It consisted of one hundred and 
fifty ships, two thousand six hundred and fifty great guns, 
twenty thousand soldiers, eight thousand sailors, and two 
thousand volunteers. It arrived in the English Channel 
on July 19, and was defeated the next day by Drake and 
Howard. Ten fire-ships having been sent into the enemy's 
fleet, they cut their cables, put to sea, and made an at- 
tempt to return to their rendezvous between Calais and 
Gravelines; the English fell upon them, took many ships, 

L* 



250 WHAT? 



and Admiral Howard maintained a running fight from 
the 21st of July to the 27th, obliging the scattered fleet 
to bear away for Scotland and Ireland, where a storm dis- 
persed them, and the remainder of the armament returned 
to Spain. The Spaniards lost fifteen first-rate ships in 
the engagement, and five thousand men ; seventeen ships 
were lost or taken on the Irish coast, and above five thou- 
sand men were drowned, killed, or taken prisoners. The 
English lost but one ship ! 

10. "The Sister of Shakspeare." — What poetess 
has been thus called? Ans. Joanna Baillie. (See 16 in 
"Who?") 

11. Jewels. — What emperor had them dissolved among 
his sauces? Ans. Caligula. 

His full name was Caius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, 
and he was third emperor of Rome, born at Antium, 
August 31, a.d. 12, put to death in Rome, January 24, 
41. He was the youngest son of Germanicus, the nephew 
of Tiberius. Caligula was an epithet applied to him 
from the caliga, a half-boot of the Roman soldiers, which 
he usually wore in his youth. His earliest years were 
passed in camp with his father, an accomplished, virtuous 
man, and as a child he became very popular with the 
soldiers. Tiberius promoted him to various posts of 
honor, and encouraged him to look forward to the succes- 
sion of the imperial crown. Tiberius was killed in 37, 
as is generally believed at the instigation of Caligula, 
who afterwards boasted that he had attempted to put him 
to death to avenge the wrongs that his family had suffered. 
The emperor commenced his reign with a show of clem- 
ency and moderation ; restoring some of the forms of 
the republic which his predecessor had entirely disre- 
garded, and abolishing arbitrary prosecutions for crimes 
of state; but tyrannical by nature, in less than eight 
months he acted out his real disposition in cruelties which 
soon surpassed those of Tiberius. 'Some ascribe this 
change in him to a fever which seriously impaired his 
mental faculties. After having murdered many of his 
subjects with his own hands, and caused others to be put 
to death without trial, he was assassinated by a tribune 
of the people as he was leaving the amphitheatre. No 



WHAT? 



251 



Roman lady was safe under his eye, and he ravished both 
his mother and sister. (See 142-2 in "What?") 

12. "Byron with a Little B."— What English 
novelist has been thus styled? Ans. Sir Edward Bulwer. 

Sir Edward Bulwer was born at Haydon Hall, in Nor- 
folk, in 1805, and was the youngest son of General Bulwer, 
of Norfolk. He was Sir Edward Bulwer till 1843, when, 
on the death of his mother, who was one of the ancient 
family of Lytton, of Hertfordshire, he succeeded to her 
estates and adopted her family name. His name in 
full is Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer. He was 
educated at Cambridge, and in 1825 gained the Chan- 
cellor's prize for his English poem on "Sculpture." 
Bulwer was a novelist, poet, dramatist, historian, critic, 
and essayist. In 1827 he married Miss Rosina Wheeler, 
of Limerick, Ireland, by whom he had one son, — so 
widely known as "Owen Meredith," or Robert Edward 
Bulwer Lytton. This union was not a happy one, and 
the unfortunate couple separated on account of " incom- 
patibility of temper." In the same year of his marriage 
appeared his first novel, "Falkland;" in the five suc- 
ceeding years he published "Pelham," "The Disowned," 
"Devereux," "Paul Clifford," and "Eugene Aram." 
About 1830 he succeeded Campbell as the editor of the 
"New Monthly Magazine," and soon after his poem of 
"Milton" appeared, which is said to be the best of his 
poems. In 1833 came " England and the English ;" this 
was followed by "The Pilgrims of the Rhine," "The 
Last Days of Pompeii," a classical story, and "Rienzi, 
the Last of the Tribunes," which stands at the head of 
all his romantic fictions. He was created a baronet upon 
the coronation of Queen Victoria. Later followed " My 
Novel," "The Caxtons," and "What will He do with 
It?" At the age of twenty-six he entered Parliament as 
member for St. Ives, and was returned at other times from 
other places, making his whole term of service about 
fourteen years. In 1858 he became one of the cabinet 
(colonial secretary) under the Derby administration. He 
has given to the world more than forty distinct works, 
most of them originally in three volumes. In every de- 
partment which he has attempted he does well, but it is 



252 WHAT? 



upon his novels that his fame will ultimately rest, and 
'these will entitle him to a distinguished place in English 
literature. His plays of " Lady of Lyons" and " Riche- 
lieu" have been much applauded. He died January 18, 

1873- 

13. Magna Charta. — What king signed it, and where? 
Ans. John, King of England, at Runnymede, 19th of 
June, 1215. 

John, surnamed Lackland, succeeded his brother Rich- 
ard I. in 1199, and reigned till 1216. This period was 
marked with the most disgusting tyranny and crime. He 
received his surname from the loss of his territories in 
France, of which he was stripped by the French king. 
Early in his reign he made the Pope his enemy by appro- 
priating to his own purposes some of the treasures of the 
church, and he was visited with the full extent of the 
papal vengeance. At first obstinate, he was finally in- 
timidated into submission. His kingdom was put under 
an interdict, himself excommunicated, and after several 
personal concessions he engaged to hold his kingdom 
tributary to the Holy See. By this conduct he incurred 
the deep hatred and contempt of his people. To such a 
degree was King John humiliated that he did homage to 
Pandulf, the Pope's legate, in the most abject manner, 
and paid part of the tribute which he owed for his king- 
dom, while the legate, in the haughtiness of sacerdotal 
power, trampled on the money, as an earnest of the sub- 
jection of the kingdom. The subjects of John, treated 
with so much indignity, and even sold, felt it necessary 
to vindicate their rights. The barons, under the com- 
mand of Langton, the primate, assembled, and, binding 
themselves by an oath to a concert of measures, demanded 
from the king a ratification of a charter of privileges 
granted by Henry I. The king was highly exasperated, 
and refused the demand till resort was had to the sword. 
Deserted by his people, he was obliged most reluctantly 
to yield a compliance. At Runnymede, where he met 
his barons, he signed, on the 19th of June, 1215, that 
famous deed called the Magna Charta (Great Charter), 
which has had so propitious an effect on the liberty of 
Englishmen. It secured important rights to all classes 



WHAT? 253 



of his subjects, among which were, that no person should 
be tried on suspicion alone, but on the evidence of 
lawful witnesses, and that no person should be tried or 
punished but by the judgment of his peers and the law of 
the land. This was the commencement of trials by jury. 

14. Suicide. — What queen committed this act rather 
than fall into the enemy's hands? Ans. Queen Boadicea. 

Queen Boadicea was queen of the Iceni, inhabitants 
of Norfolk and Suffolk, in England. In the reign of 
Nero, 61 a.d., Suetonius defeated her. (See 228 in 
"Who?") 

15. Indolence. — What poet was famed for his indo- 
lence? Ans. James Thomson. 

It is said of him that he was so "intensely indolent as 
to have been in the habit, when lounging in his dressing- 
gown along the sunny walks of his garden, of biting a 
mouthful out of the peaches ripening on his wall, too lazy 
to lift his hand to pluck them." He lived on the banks 
of the Thames, near Richmond, in comfort, and even in 
luxury. (See 2 in "Who?") 

16. Justin I. — What Roman emperor was a plough- 
man's son ? Ans. Justin I. 

Justin I. was a Thracian, and ascended the throne in 
526 a.d. He governed with great prudence. In the first 
year of his reign he sent the celebrated Belisarius against 
the Persians, who had broken the truce subsisting between 
the two empires. Justin rose by his talents to the first 
military dignities before he was chosen emperor. He was 
so illiterate, however, as to be unable to write his own 
name, and secured respect only by the good sense which 
he manifested in the choice of his counselors. 

17. Jane Eyre. — What English novel has been pro- 
nounced the greatest ever written by a woman ? Ans. 
"Jane Eyre." (See 13 in "Who?") 

18. Alexandre Dumas. — What French novelist was 
a colored gentleman ? Ans. Alexandre Dumas. 

Alexandre Dumas's father was a French general, and 
the son of the Marquis Davy de la Pailleterie and a negro 
girl. At the age of fourteen he enlisted under his 
mother's name of Dumas in a cavalry regiment. Alexan- 
dre, named for his father, was born at Villers-Cotterets, July 

22 



254 



WHAT? 



24, 1803. Died at Puy, near Dieppe, December 5, 1870. 
He was a dramatist as well as novelist. After his father's 
death his mother sent him to school, where he became 
a good horseman, billiard-player, fencer, and shot. At 
fifteen years of age he was placed as a copying-clerk with 
a notary. At eighteen he began to write for the stage, 
but none of his plays written at this period were accepted. 
At twenty the pressure of family difficulties sent him to 
Paris, where General Foy procured for him a small office in 
the household of Louis Philippe, then Duke of Orleans, 
with a salary of twelve hundred francs. He devoted his 
leisure to completing his imperfect education, wrote some 
light poems, and in 1825, with MM. Rousseau and De 
Leuven, produced a play called " Le Chasse et 1' Amour." 
Tragedy engaged his attention for awhile, but he soon 
abandoned it. His genius was awakened by the perform- 
ances of an English company, which, in 1827, presented 
some of Shakspeare's plays in Paris. This made him feel 
that the French stage needed reform, and he resolved to 
be one of the apostles of the new dramatic creed. He 
brought out on February n, 1829, a historical play, 
"Henri III. et sa Cour," constructed with utter disregard 
to the ordinary rules. It created a sensation, and though 
assailed by the critics was applauded by the public. From 
this play Dumas realized in a few months thirty thousand 
francs. " Christine, ou Stockholm, Fontainebleau et 
Rome," another historical drama in verse, was well re- 
ceived. "Antony" (written in 1831), if not the best, is 
the most characteristic production of its author. Some 
eight or ten dramas followed these, but in the mean time 
Dumas appeared as a novelist, and it is in this field that he 
has reaped his fame. In 1835 was published his " Isabelle 
de Baviere," a romantic picture of France in the fifteenth 
century. His intention was to give, under the title of 
" Chroniques de France," a series of novels, treating of 
the most interesting incidents of French history. These 
and his "Impressions de Voyage," narrating his travels 
through Switzerland and Italy, were eagerly read. The 
success of these and similar books was only equaled by 
the wonderful rapidity with which they were produced. 
In 1846 he made a contract to furnish two newspapers 



WHA T? 



255 



with an amount of manuscript equal to sixty volumes a 
year ; this exclusive of his plays and other productions. 
Such fecundity raised the question whether he really was 
the author of the books bearing his name. A lawsuit in 
which he was involved in 1847 with the directors of the 
" Presse" and " Constitutionnel," brought to light the fact 
that he had engaged to furnish these journals with more 
volumes than a rapid penman could even copy ; but though 
he made liberal use of the talents of assistants, he claimed 
sufficient share in the plan and execution of every work to 
make it truly his own. A judicial decision finally sup- 
ported his claim. His daily work averaged thirty-two 
pages of an ordinary octavo volume. In 1842 he mar- 
ried Ida Ferrier, an actress of the Porte St. Martin. 
Three years afterwards she went to Florence, and died 
there in 1859. The most popular of his novels are " The 
Count of Monte Christo," "The Three Guardsmen," 
"Twenty Years After," "Margaret of Anjou," "The 
Vicomte de Bragelone," " The Memoirs of a Physician," 
"The Life and Adventures of Alexandre Dumas." The 
latter contains many characteristic anecdotes. His natural 
son, called also Alexandre, has won much fame as a 
novelist, and Verdi set one of his dramas to music in his 
" Traviata." 

19. Intemperate Authors. — What authors have been 
intemperate? Ans. Edgar Allen Poe, Lord Byron, Robert 
Burns, Charles Lamb, Nathaniel Lee, Douglas Jerrold, Sir 
Richard Steele, Samuel Coleridge. 

1. Edgar Allen Poe was born in Baltimore in Janu- 
ary, 181 1, and was a remarkably bright and beautiful boy. 
He was descended from a family of great respectability, 
but his own parents, actors in a theatre, were of dissolute 
morals. The paternal grandfather was a distinguished 
officer in the Maryland line during the war of the Revo- 
lution, and his great-grandfather, John Poe, married a 
daughter of Admiral McBride, of the British navy. Our 
poet's father was the fourth son of the Revolutionary offi- 
cer, a native of Maryland, and studied for the bar ; but 
falling in love with a beautiful actress, named Elizabeth 
Arnold, he gave up the law and adopted with her the 
stage as a profession. They lived together six or seven 



256 



WHAT? 



years, wandering from theatre to theatre, when they both 
died within a very short time of one another, in Rich- 
mond, Virginia, leaving three children in utter destitu- 
tion. The pretty boy Edgar attracted the attention of 
a wealthy merchant in Richmond, who had known his 
parents, and having no children of his own adopted the 
little orphan. He was afterwards called Edgar Allen. 
The precocious child was petted by his adopted parents, 
who took pride in his forwardness and beauty. He was 
sent to the best schools, and was regarded as the heir to 
their property. In 1816 Mr. and Mrs. Allen took Edgar 
to England with them, where he remained at school some 
five or six years. On his return to America he entered 
the University of Virginia, where he graduated in 1826. 
He led while there a life noted for its profligacy and wild 
excesses, and left it deeply in debt. We hear of him 
for a year in Europe; then returning home, at West Point ; 
then as a common soldier in the army ; then in Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, where he edited the "Southern Lit- 
erary Magazine" ; then, in 1838, he settled in Philadel- 
phia, having married his cousin Virginia Clemm, and 
became the chief editor of the "Gentleman's Magazine" 
and "Graham's Magazine." Just before Poe entered 
West Point Mrs. Allen died, in whom he lost a true 
friend. He was expelled from the "Point," and found 
a new wife at the old home, who, however, received him 
kindly and wished to treat him as a son. He soon quar- 
reled with her, and left the house of his adopted father 
never to return. The family of Mr. Allen gave a version 
to this quarrel which throws a dark stain on the character 
of the poet. On the death of Mr. Allen shortly after, in 
1834, Poe's name, contrary to general expectation, was 
found to be omitted from the will. In 1845 appeared his 
popular poem, "The Raven," which made him at once 
a lion in society and greatly sought after by literary men. 
But he could not break from his habits of dissipation, 
which reduced him to such poverty that during the ill- 
ness of his wife there were public appeals made in his 
behalf in New York. These were generously responded 
to. His wife died in 1847. Not long after her death he 
formed an intimacy with an accomplished literary lady 



WHAT? 257 



of Rhode Island, a widow, to whom he was engaged to 
be married. It was to her that he addressed his poem 
"Annabel Lee." The day was appointed for their mar- 
riage, but he in the mean time had formed other plans, 
and to disentangle himself from this engagement he visited 
the house of his affianced bride, where he conducted him- 
self with such indecent violence that the aid of the police 
had to be called to expel him from the house. This of 
course put an end to the engagement. In a short time 
after he went to Richmond, and there gained the confi- 
dence and affections of a lady of good family and con- 
siderable fortune. The day was appointed for their mar- 
riage, and he left Virginia to return to New York to fulfill 
some literary arrangements previous to the consummation 
of this new engagement. He had written to his friends 
that he had at last a prospect of happiness; the "Lost 
Lenore" was found. He arrived in Baltimore on his 
way to the North, and gave his baggage into the charge 
of a porter, intending to leave in an hour for Philadel- 
phia. Stepping into a hotel for some refreshments he 
met some of his former companions, who induced him 
to drink with them. In a few minutes all was over with 
him. He passed the night in revelry, wandered out into 
the street in a state of insanity, and was found in the 
morning literally dying from exposure and the night's 
excesses. Taken to a hospital, he there, on the 7th of 
October, 1849, at tne a S e OI " thirty-eight, closed his ter- 
rible life. He was buried in Baltimore, where he lay, 
without a stone to mark his last resting-place, till 1875, 
when a beautiful and costly monument was erected to his 
memory by the school-teachers of his native city. His 
prose and poetical works have been published in four vol- 
umes by Redfield, New York. 

2. George Gordon Byron. (See 52 in " Who?") 

3. Robert Burns. (See 44 in "What?") 

4. Charles Lamb. (See 6 in " Who?") ■ 

5. Nathaniel Lee was born in Hatfield, Hertford- 
shire, about 1657, and was killed in London in 1691. He 
was an English dramatic poet, and educated at Trinity 
College, Cambridge. From 1675 to 1681 he produced a 
new play every year. At length his mind yielded to the 

22* 



258 WHAT? 



strain, and, becoming insane in 1684, he was confined in 
Bedlam four years. Regaining his reason he was released, 
when he resumed his old occupation of writing. He as- 
sisted Dryden in writing "CEdipus," and the "Duke of 
Guise." Lee wrote eleven tragedies, two of which were 
" Theodosius" and "Alexander the Great." 

6. Douglas Jerrold. (See 206 in "What?") 

7. Sir Richard Steele was born in Dublin in 1671. 
His father sent him to be educated at the Charter House 
in London, whence he was removed to Merton College, 
Oxford, 1 69 1. Unfortunately for him, soon after leaving 
the university he imbibed a fondness for the army, and 
entered himself as a private in the horse-guards, from 
which he was soon promoted to the office of ensign. 
Steele soon plunged into the vortex of dissipation and 
intemperance, by which he laid the foundation of much 
misery and remorse during his life. In 1702 he first at- 
tracted the notice of the public as an author by the publi- 
cation of "The Funeral, or Grief a la Mode," a comedy, 
which was successfully acted that year. Two more com- 
edies, "The Tender Husband," acted in 1703, and "The 
Dying Lover," in 1704, followed his first attempt. The 
latter proving a failure, Steele determined, for a time at 
least, to desert the stage, and projected the publication 
of a periodical paper. The title of this paper, as the 
author observes in the first number, was decided upon in 
honor of the fair sex, and "The Tatler" was therefore 
placed under their jurisdiction. Addison and Steele were 
great friends, and in March, 1711, they began " The Spec- 
tator," and in 1713 "The Guardian." After the acces- 
sion of George I., Steele was made, in 1715, surveyor of 
the royal stables at Hampton Court and was knighted. 
The same year he was chosen member of Parliament for 
Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, and was high in favor with 
the reigning powers. But his good fortune did not last 
long, for the love of strong drink had too powerful a 
hold on him, and the latter years of his life he suffered 
much from poverty. His frailty did not spring from vice, 
but from a habitual carelessness and a want of worldly 
prudence. He was generous to a fault, and no object of 
distress ever left him with a murmur. It is said of him, 



WHAT? 



■S9 



" that he would dress himself, kiss his wife and children, 
tell them about his pressing engagements, heel it over to 
a grocery under the store, and have a revel with his bottle 
companions." The last few years of his life he lived by 
the indulgence of the mortgagee, at his seat in Llangun- 
nor, near Caermarthen, Wales, where he died on the 21st 
of September, 1729. 

8. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. (See 40 in " What?") 

20. Paradise Lost. — What great poem was sold to a 
publisher for five pounds? Ans. Milton's '-'Paradise 
Lost." (See 38 in "Who?") 

21. Infidels. — What distinguished authors have been 
infidels? Ans. Voltaire, Hume, Paine, Gibbon, Shelley, 
Rousseau, Heine. 

1. Voltaire. (See 26 in "Who?") 

2. David Hume, the celebrated Scotch historian, was 
born in Edinburgh in 1711. He was designed for the 
law, but, having no inclination for it, applied himself to 
mercantile pursuits, and in 1734 became clerk to a house 
in Bristol. He did not, however, continue long in that 
line, owing to his strong propensity to literature. In 
1738 he published his "Treatise on Human Nature," a 
metaphysical work, which met with a very indifferent re- 
ception. In 1744 appeared his "Moral Essays," which 
were a little better received. During the next ten years 
he published his " Inquiry concerning Human Under- 
standing," "Political Discourses," and "Inquiries con- 
cerning Principles of Morals." While Hume is an able 
writer, ingenious, subtile, and acute, the sophistry of his 
arguments on the subjects of morals and religion is un- 
worthy a man of his penetration. He often confounds 
truth with error, and right with wrong. He resided much 
in France, and though he possessed slender means, he 
was able, by the most rigid economy, to pursue his studies 
in that country, where the above-named works were mostly 
written. At different periods, after 1752, the several por- 
tions of his "English History" were given to the public. 
From the History he realized a handsome sum, but the 
other books brought him nothing for a long time. This, 
together with the income from other employments, made 
him, in his own view, very opulent, as he possessed a 



2 6o WHAT? 



revenue of one thousand pounds a year. He died at 
Edinburgh in 1776. 

3. Thomas Paine was born January 29, 1756, at Thet- 
ford, in Norfolk, England, where his father, a Quaker, was 
a stay-maker. Paine was a celebrated political and deistical 
writer. Many of his books are said to have been burned, 
on account of the pernicious doctrines advanced in them. 
At an early age he showed his fine abilities as a writer, 
and was recommended by Dr. Franklin, who was then in 
London, to go to America. This suggestion he acted upon, 
and reached Philadelphia in 1774, and soon became editor 
of the "Pennsylvania Magazine," which he conducted 
with considerable ability. He wrote a tract entitled 
" Common Sense," composed with great vigor, and rec- 
ommended the separation of the colonies from Great 
Britain, hostilities having commenced between the mother- 
country and the colonies. For this pamphlet the legis- 
lature voted him five hundred dollars. In 1776 he was a 
volunteer under Washington, and in April, 1777, was 
elected by Congress as secretary to the Committee for 
Foreign Affairs, which position he filled for about two 
years. He was afterwards chosen clerk of the Pennsyl- 
vania Legislature. In 1781 he accompanied Colonel Lau- 
rens to France for the purpose of negotiating a loan. 
The embassy obtained six millions as a loan, France hav- 
ing previously declared in our favor. A short time before 
this, when our financial condition was in a very critical 
condition, and Washington feared a dissolution of our 
army through want of pay, Paine originated a private 
subscription, and headed it with five hundred dollars, all 
the money he could raise, including his salary. This 
project procured a million and a half, which carried us 
through to the capture of Cornwallis. Congress granted 
to him a sum of three thousand dollars in 1785, and 
Pennsylvania gave him five hundred pounds currency. 
New York gave him over three hundred acres of rich 
land, well cultivated, and a large stone house with ex- 
tensive outbuildings, situated in New Rochelle, near the 
city of New York ; yet Paine was not happy. While in 
France, Paine wrote several works, among them "Rights 
of Man" and "Age of Reason," against revelation. 



WHAT? 26 1 



These works and others made him very unpopular, and 
his frequent attacks upon religion narrowed his circle of 
acquaintances. Owing to dissipated habits, tending to 
the injury of his health, he died June 8, 1809, in his sev- 
enty-third year. He was refused interment in the ground 
of the Society of Friends, and was buried on his own 
farm. In 181 9 the famous William Cobbett visited Paine's 
grave and took the bones back with him to England, and 
put them in the hands of a committee for the purpose of 
honoring them with a public funeral. That funeral never 
took place. After Cobbett's death the box containing 
the bones was knocked about from one place to another 
until finally, in 1849, they came into the possession of 
one Chennel, a corn-merchant in Surrey. " Cobbett 
thought to gain a little eclat by taking over the bones, 
but England laughed at him." In his later years a 
drunkard and debauchee, Paine died utterly detested. 
One of Byron's most biting epigrams was upon Paine and 
Cobbett : 

" In digging up your bones, Tom Paine, 

Will Cobbett has done well; 
You visit him on earth again, 

He'll visit you in hell." 

Paine's matrimonial relations were in agreement with 
his life and doctrines. He lost his first wife the year fol- 
lowing his marriage, and after a cohabitation of three 
years and a half separated from the second, by mutual con- 
sent several years before. Thus situated he obtained a 
female companion in the person of a Madame de Bon- 
nerville, the wife of a French bookseller, who, with her 
two sons, accompanied him to America. Whatever was 
the nature of this connection, which has been differently 
represented, the husband and children, with the wife of 
De Bonnerville, became the chief legatees on the death 
of Paine. 

4. Edward Gibbon was born in Putney, county of 
Surrey, the 27th of April, 1737. He was the eldest son 
of Edward Gibbon, Esq., and Judith Porten. He ac- 
quitted himself poorly at the university, but afterwards, 
when at Lausanne, devoted himself to classical literature, 
and acquired such a perfect knowledge of the French 



262 WHAT? 



language that he could both speak and write it as easily as he 
could his own. A portion of his printed works are in French. 
His greatest work, and that which has immortalized him, is 
his " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." It was in 
the midst of the ruins of Rome that he conceived the 
idea of this magnificent composition. This history cost 
him twenty years of labor. The materials for it he de- 
rived in a considerable degree from his own library, which 
consisted of ten thousand volumes. He received from 
his publishers eight thousand pounds for his History. 
While at Lausanne, where he remained five years, he fell 
deeply in love with Susan Curchod. Gibbon afterwards 
says of her, " I found her learned without pedantry, 
lively in conversation, pure in sentiment, and elegant in 
manners." She was the daughter of a humble minister 
of Crassy, and requited Gibbon's attachment. On re- 



turning to England his father would not hear of the 
strange alliance, and like a dutiful son he relinquished 
all thoughts of his marriage. Afterwards, her father dying, 
Susan Curchod went to Geneva, where she earned a scant 
living for herself and mother by teaching. Attracting 
the notice of a rich banker of Paris, who sought her 
hand, she became the wife of M. Necker, — minister and 
perhaps legislator of the French monarchy, — and mother 
of the celebrated Madame de Stael. Gibbon frequently 
went to Paris, and was always a welcome guest in the 
house of M. Necker, by whom he was treated with the 
warmest friendship. Among his miscellaneous works are 
a volume or two of letters, highly spirited and entertain- 
ing, — rich with the stores of an elegant, cultivated, and 
playful mind. He wrote " Memoirs of My Life and 
Writings," and died of a dropsy in 1794. Gibbon never 
married. 

5. Percy Bysshe Shelley was born at Field Place, 
near Horsham, in Sussex, August 4, 1792. Already in 
his early youth the sweep and intensity of his imagination 
were conspicuous. He habitually withdrew himself from 
the rough plays of his fellows. When thirteen he was 
sent to Eton, where he developed the characteristic trait 
that moulded his whole future life, — invincible hatred of 
tyranny. That hateful system of " fagging," so preva- 



WHAT? 



263 



lent in the English schools, was then in full force, and 
Shelley, for refusing to submit to its tyrannical dictation, 
was persecuted by every device of ingenious despotism. 
This he bore nobly, for the boy's nature, though shrink- 
ing and sensitive, was full of nervous vigor and manly 
self-reliance, so that he was not content with simply bear- 
ing all jeers and insults, but challenged and defied them, 
often defending the weak by the interposition of himself. 
In 1810 Shelley was entered at University College, Ox- 
ford, where he studied and wrote incessantly, taking the 
greatest delight in disputation and in combating received 
opinions. In his second year at college he published a 
pamphlet questioning the arguments by which the ex- 
istence of God was maintained. It was not so much 
of an avowal of confirmed infidel opinions as it was a 
challenge to discussion, and implied a desire to attain 
better reasoning on the side of the general belief of man- 
kind, rather than a wish to overthrow that belief. For 
this he was summoned before the Master and two or three 
Fellows, and formally expelled. Through this treatment, 
and the cruel course pursued by an unsympathetic father, 
who forbade him ever to revisit his house, he was driven 
still further from religion, and made to consider the Chris- 
tian system as a form of tyranny, and all its professors as 
bigots and despots. In 1811 Shelley made a runaway- 
match with a Miss Harriet Westbrooke, the daughter of 
a retired hotel-keeper. He was attracted to her by her 
personal charms, but neither her birth, education, nor 
character adapted her to any enduring sympathy with her 
husband's imaginative and intellectual nature. After 
three years of "incompatibility of temper," the ill- 
joined pair separated, the wife going back to her father 
with two young children. Two years subsequently she 
committed suicide. This deed cast a dark shadow over 
Shelley's future life, though it does not appear that he was 
the immediate cause of her destruction. His second wife 
was Mary Wollstonecraft, the daughter of William Godwin. 
This proved a very happy union, for she sympathized with 
him in his troubles and persecutions, and proved a true 
and loving friend. Shelley spent two or three years in 
traveling on the Continent, and in Italy formed intimate 



264 WHAT? 



acquaintance with Leigh Hunt, Keats, and Lord Byron. 
His first publication was " Queen Mab," a miniature 
poem, written at eighteen. " Alaster," the " Hymn to 
Intellectual Beauty," and the "Hymn to Mont Blanc" 
soon followed. In 181 7, when he returned to England to 
claim his children, he hired a house at Marlow, and there 
wrote "The Revolt of Islam," the longest of his poems. 
It contains many passages alluding to the chancery decree 
which took his children from him, — the lord chancellor 
deciding that one holding such opinions was entirely un- 
suitable to their proper education, — and much vehement 
declamation against their laws and administration. While 
settled at Marlow he was distinguished by the most active 
benevolence to the poor, assisting them every way in his 
power. In 18 18 he left England for Italy, where he re- 
sided till his death, in 1822, on intimate terms with the 
large circle of English scholars and poets residing there. 
During these years he wrote his other large poems, " Pro- 
metheus Unbound," " The Cenci," "Hellas," "The 
Witch of Atlas," "Adonais," etc. "Adonais" is, per- 
haps, his most perfect poem, inspired by his sorrow for 
poor Keats's death. Shelley belonged to the " Cockney 
School of Literature." (See 155 in " What?") 

6. Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 
1 71 2. He was of a weakly constitution, but his mind 
was strong and active, and the early reading of Plutarch 
and Tacitus expanded his ideas and inspired him with 
courage. His life was somewhat eventful, though we can- 
not dwell on the particulars. The strangeness and in- 
constancy of his character subjected him to many calami- 
ties. While by nature he was formed to enjoy the pleasures 
of the world in perfection, he endured self-inflicted tortures 
to such an extent as to leave the balance of pleasure very 
little, if any, in his favor. He had a perpetual hanker- 
ing after some unattainable state of voluptuous virtue. 
Though equally skeptical with Hume and Voltaire, he 
quarreled with the one, who was his protector in Eng- 
land, and he incurred the persecution of the other, for 
maintaining the immoral tendency of the stage. Some 
of his opinions were so obnoxious that the popular indig- 
nation was aroused against him, and he was obliged to flee 



WI1A Ti 



265 



from place to place on the Continent ; in fact, he found no 
asylum till he reached England. At length, however, he 
returned to Geneva, and spent the last years of his life -in 
the company of a few friends, and resigned himself to 
peaceful studies. He died of an apoplexy in 1778, aged 
sixty-six years. His works show him to have been a man 
of transcendent genius, but convict him of the utmost 
eccentricity of idea, joined with licentiousness and skepti- 
cism. He may well be called the Diogenes of modern 
times. His literary career commenced at the age of 
thirty-eight by a prize essay, in which he maintained the 
superiority of savage nature to the comforts of domestic 
and social life. This opinion he defended a long time 
against all Europe. His "New Heloise" and his " Emi- 
lius" attained to great celebrity. His "Confessions," 
published after his death, is one of the most singular pro- 
ductions of the human mind. (See 219 in "Who?") 
7. Heinrich Heine. (See 207 in "What?" 

22. Tennyson. — What poet of modern times was 
paid two thousand pounds for a copy of one of his 
poems? Ans. Tennyson, for his "Idylls of the King." 
(See 17 in "Who?") 

23. Marriage. — What celebrated men were never mar- 
ried? Ans. James Montgomery, Washington Irving, 
Charles Lamb, Alexander Pope, Thomas Gray, Michael 
Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Edward Gibbon, 
Swedenborg, William Pitt, Sir Edwin Landseer, Galileo, 
Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Beethoven.* 

1. James Montgomery. (See 42-4 in "Who?") 

2. Washington Irving. (See 39 in "Who?") 

3. Charles Lamb. (See 6 in "Who?") 

4. Alexander Pope. (See 4 in "Who?") 

5. Thomas Gray was born in Cornhill, December 
26, 1 7 16, and educated at Eton School, under the care 
of his mother's brother, Mr. Antrobus, who at that time 
was one of the assistant masters, and also a Fellow of St. 
Peter's College, Cambridge, to which place Gray was 
admitted a pensioner in 1734. His father, Philip Gray, 
was a merchant, but being an indolent and reserved man, 
did not get along very well in the world. He had many 
children, Thomas being the fifth son. All of them except 

* Plato was never married. 
M 23 



266 WHAT? 



him died in their infancy. While at Cambridge he con- 
tracted a friendship with Horace Walpole, the wit and 
beau of Madame Recamier's time, and Richard West. 
The former took Gray as his traveling companion through 
France and part of Italy. At Reggio, however, these ill- 
assorted -friends parted in mutual dislike, and Gray pro- 
ceeded alone to Venice, and remained there till he was 
provided with the means of returning to England. Wal- 
pole took the blame of this separation, saying afterwards, 
" Gray was too serious a companion for me; he was for 
antiquities, etc., while I was for perpetual balls and plays : 
the fault was mine." He also said, " Gray never was a 
boy." Two months after his return to England his father 
died in embarrassed circumstances, and after this Gray re- 
entered Cambridge, where he prosecuted his studies, with 
an ardor and industry seldom equaled, to the end of his 
life. His life is singularly devoid of interest and variety, 
even for an author. He gave himself up to learning, de- 
voting his time almost exclusively to reading. Writing 
with him was an exception, and that, too, a rare one. At 
the time of his death he was considered one of the most 
learned men of Europe. He knew every branch of history, 
both natural and civil ; had read all the original histories 
of England, France, and Italy, and was a great antiquary. 
Criticisms, metaphysics, morals, politics, voyages and 
travels of all kinds, were his studies. He had a fine taste 
in paintings and architecture. The poem on which 
his fame will forever rest is the " Elegy written in a 
Country Church-Yard," published in 1750. Few poems 
were ever so popular. It soon ran through eleven edi- 
tions. In 1757 he was offered the office of poet-laureate, 
made vacant by the death of Cibber, but he declined it. 
In 1768 he was made Professor of History at Cambridge, 
and though so well fitted for the chair by his great learn- 
ing, his indolence in writing was such that he never 
delivered any lectures. He retained this post till the 
time of his death, July 30, 1771. On the 24th he was 
taken with an attack of gout in the stomach, and died in 
his fifty-fifth year. His letters to West, Walpole, and 
others, together with his poems, have been published in 
four volumes. His other poems of any length are "The 



WHAT? 267 



Bard," "The Progress of Poesy," "Ode to Spring," and 
"Hymn to Adversity." Charles Dickens says, "No 
poet ever came walking down to posterity with so small a 
book under his arm as Thomas Gray." Gray was so 
strict in his ideas of virtue that he particularly requested 
a friend, who was going to the Continent, not to call on 
Voltaire. The friend said, "What can a visit from a 
person like me signify?" He rejoined, with great earn- 
estness, " Sir, every tribute to such a man signifies." 

6. Michael Angelo. (See 125 in "Who?") 

7. Leonardo da Vinci was born in Vinci, near 
Florence, in 1452. He was the son of a notary, and, 
besides being one of the greatest painters the world has 
ever seen, was a sculptor, an architect, and engineer. The 
life of Leonardo tends to illustrate the disadvantage of 
too wide a grasp and diffusion of genius. Beginning 
much and finishing little, not because he was idle or 
fickle, but because his schemes were so colossal and his 
aims so high, he spent his time in a preparation for the 
attainment of an excellence which constantly eluded him. 
The life of the proud, passionate man was in many re- 
spects a life of failure and mortification. He was en- 
dowed with surprising bodily strength, and was skilled in 
the knightly exercises of riding, fencing, and dancing. 
He was a lover of social pleasures, and inclined to indulge 
in expensive habits. While a boy, he amused himself by 
inventing machines for swimming, diving, and flying, as 
well as a compass, a hygrometer, etc. In a combina- 
tion from the attributes of the toads, lizards, and bats, 
with which his studies in natural history had made him 
familiar, he painted a nondescript monster, which he 
showed suddenly to his father, whom it filled with horror. 
But the horror did not prevent the old lawyer selling the 
wild phantasmagoria for a large sum of money. He 
visited the most frequented places, carrying always with 
him his sketch-book, in which to note down his observa- 
tions ; he followed criminals to execution, in order to 
witness their pangs of despair ; he invited peasants to his 
house, and told them laughable stories, that he might pick 
up from their faces the essence of comic expression. A 
mania for truth — in great and little things — possessed him. 



268 WHAT? 



He was fourteen years at the court of Milan, where, 
among other works, he painted his " Cenacoio," or " Last 
Supper," one of the grandest pictures ever produced. 
He painted it, contrary to the usual practice, in oils, upon 
the plastered walls of the refectory of the Dominican 
convent, Milan. The situation was damp, and the mate- 
rial used proved so unsuitable for work on plaster that 
even before it was exposed to the reverses which, in the 
course of a French occupation of Milan, converted the 
refectory into a stable, the colors had altogether faded, 
and the very rubstance of the picture was crumbling into 
ruin. The equestrian statue of the old Duke of Milan, 
by Leonardo, excited so much delight in its first freshness 
that it was carried through the city in triumph ; but, alas, 
in its progress it was accidentally broken. On his return 
to Florence, he found his great rival, Michael Angelo, 
already in the field. Both of these men, conscious of 
mighty gifts, were intolerant of rivalry. To Leonardo 
especially, as being much the elder man, and the origi- 
nator of many of the new views in art which his oppo- 
nent had adopted, the competition was very distasteful, and 
he used the bitter sarcasm to Angelo which has come down 
to us, " I was famous before you were born." Leonardo 
went to Rome during the time of Leo X., but there his 
quarrel with Michael Angelo broke out more violently 
than ever ; the Pope, who liked better a gentler nature, 
seemed to slight him, and the great painter not only 
quitted Rome in disgust, but withdrew his services alto- 
gether from ungrateful Italy. At Pavia he was presented 
to Francis I. of France, who, zealous of patronizing art, 
engaged the painter to follow his fortunes, at a salary of 
seven hundred crowns a year. Leonardo spent the re- 
mainder of his life in France. His health had long been 
declining before he died, aged sixty-seven years, at Cloux, 
near Ambroise, in 15 19. He had risen high in the favor 
of Francis, and from this circumstance, and the generous, 
chivalrous nature of the king, there arose the tradition 
that Francis visited Leonardo on his death-bed and that 
while gently assisting him to raise himself the painter died 
in the king's arms. Besides his great works, he filled 
many manuscript volumes, some with singularly accurate 



WHAT? 269 



studies and sketches, maps, plans for machines, scores for 
music (three volumes of these are in the Royal Library at 
Windsor), etc. One of his writings is a valuable treatise 
on painting. Other writings are on scientific and philo- 
sophic subjects, and in these this wonderfully gifted man 
is believed to have anticipated some of the discoveries- 
which were reached by lines of close reasoning centuries 
after. His works are very rare, and many which are at- 
tributed to him are the pictures of his scholars, for he 
founded one of the great schools of Milan or Lombardy. 
He drew exceedingly well. It is said that he could paint 
with his left hand as well as with his right, and that he 
could use two brushes at the same time, one in each hand. 
His greatest picture is "The Last Supper," of which, 
happily, good copies exist, as well as the wrecks of the 
picture itself. His " La Joconde" (see 65 in "What?"), 
and the "Madonna" and " Child Christ," are well 
known. The latter belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch. 
The group has at once something touching and exalted 
in its treatment. " The Divine Child in the Mother's 
arms is strongly attracted by the sight of the cross, and 
turns towards it with ineffable longing, while the Virgin 
Mother, with a pang of foreboding, clasping the child 
in her arms, seeks to draw him back." Leonardo and Fra 
Angelico are the great chiefs of the Florentine school. 
The original cartoon, in black chalk, of Leonardo's 
famous Madonna and St. Anne is preserved under glass 
in the Royal Academy. 

8. Raphael (Sanzio) was born at Urbino in 1483. 
He was the son of a painter of the Umbrian school, who 
very early destined the boy for his future career. The 
little lad's mother died when he was only eight, and his 
father when he was eleven, before any settled plans for 
his education were put into action. But no stroke of 
outward calamity or loss, however severe, could annul 
Raphael's birthright of universal favor. The step-mother, 
the uncles who were his guardians, his clever, perverse, 
unscrupulous master, all joined in a common love for the 
young painter, and determined to promote his success. 
Raphael was one of those very exceptional men who seem 
born to happiness, to inspire love and only love, to pass 

23* 



2 7 o WHAT? 



through the world making friends and disarming enemies, 
who are fully armed to confer pleasure, while almost in- 
capable of either inflicting or receiving pain. Raphael's 
life with that of 'Rubens's form the ideal painter's life, — 
bountiful, splendid, unclouded, and terminating ere it 
sees eclipse or decay; they both had an artistic tempera- 
ment, united to genial, sensuous, pleasure-loving natures. 
Raphael was above the middle height, and slightly made. 
He was sallow in complexion, with brown eyes, and a full 
yet delicate mouth. The amount of womanliness in his 
face is a striking characteristic ; it is the most distinctive 
quality in his face, along with that vague shade of pen- 
siveness which we find so frequently, but strangely, in those 
faces which have been associated with the happiest spirits 
and the brightest fortunes. At the age of twelve years he 
went to Perugia to work under Perugino, and remained 
with his master till he was nearly twenty years of age. 
In that interval he painted industriously, making constant 
progress, always in the somewhat hard, but finished style 
of Perugino, while already showing a predilection for what 
was to prove his favorite subject, the "Madonna and 
Child." At this period he painted his famous "Es- 
pousals," the marriage of the Virgin Mary with Joseph, 
now at Milan. In 1504 he visited Florence, remaining 
only a short time, but making acquaintance with Fra Barto- 
lommeo and Ghirlandajo, seeing the cartoons of Leonardo 
and Michael Angelo, and from that time displaying a 
marked improvement in drawing. Nothing is more con- 
spicuous in Raphael's genius than the receptive character 
of his mind, his power of catching up an impression from 
without, and the candor and humility with which he 
availed himself unhesitatingly of the assistance lent him 
by others. Raphael soon returned to Florence, and re- 
mained there till 1508, when he was twenty-five years old, 
drawing closer the valuable friendships he had already 
formed, and advancing with rapid strides in his art, until 
his renown was spread throughout Italy. Already had he 
painted his "Madonna of the Goldfinch," in the Floren- 
tine Gallery, and his "La Belle Jardiniere," or Madonna 
in a garden among flowers, now in the Louvre. He was 
summoned by Pope Julius II. to come to Rome and paint 



WHAT? 271 



for him the " Camere," or Stanze chambers in the Vati- 
can. Then he was a youth of only twenty-five. He has 
also left in the Vatican a series of small pictures from the 
Old Testament, known as Raphael's Bible. This series 
decorates the thirteen cupolas of the " Loggie" or open 
galleries running round three sides of an open court. 
Leo X. resolved to substitute woven for painted tapestry- 
round the lower walls of the interior of the Sistine Chapel, 
and commanded Raphael to furnish drawings to the 
Flemish weavers, and thence arose eleven cartoons, seven 
of which have been preserved, and have become the prop- 
erty of England, and are the glory of the Kensington 
Museum. Raphael painted for the Chigi family in their 
palace, which is now the Villa Farnesina, scenes from the 
history of Cupid and Psyche, and the Triumph of Galatea. 
To these last years belong his " Madonna di San Sisto," 
so named from its having been painted for the convent of 
St. Sixtus, at Piacenza, and his last figure of the "Trans- 
figuration," on which he was still engaged at the time of 
his death. The Italians say that Raphael lived more like 
a prince than a painter. He had a house in Rome and 
a villa in the neighborhood, and at his death left a con- 
siderable fortune to his heirs. Many say that he came to 
an early grave owing to his giving himself up to licentious 
pleasures ; he died at the early age of thirty-seven, on his 
birthday, April 6, 1520. All Italy mourned for him. 
When his body lay in state, to be looked at and wept 
over by multitudes, his great unfinished picture of the 
" Transfiguration" was hung above his bed. He was the 
friend of the most distinguished Italians of his day, in- 
cluding the poet Ariosto. A drawing of his own, sent to 
Albert Durer, is now preserved at Nuremberg. Leo X. 
treated him with the most marked consideration, as did 
the sovereign princes of Italy. The Cardinal Bibbiena 
proposed the painter's marriage with his niece, Maria 
di Bibbiena, insuring her a dowry of three thousand gold 
crowns, but she died young, ere the marriage could be 
accomplished. Raphael, who was little disposed for the 
match, did not long survive her. He was buried in a spot 
chosen by himself in his lifetime, and as it happened, 
not far from the resting-place of his promised bride. 



272 WHAT? 



Doubts having been raised as to Raphael's grave, search 
was made and his body was exhumed in 1833, an( l re " 
buried with great pomp. Raphael and his scholars painted 
and drew about nine hundred pictures and sketches, in- 
cluding a hundred and twenty Madonnas, eight of which 
are in private collections in England. He stood at the 
head of the Roman school. His three celebrated Ma- 
donnas are " The Madonna di San Sisto ;" this is said to' 
have been rather a creation than a picture, and in execu- 
tion, as in design, it is probably the most perfect picture 
in the world. It is in the Dresden Gallery. " Our Lady 
of the Goldfinch" and "Our Lady of the Chair" are the 
other two. 

9. Edward Gibbon. (See 21-4 in "What?") 

10. Emanuel Swedenborg. (See 59 in "Who?") 

11. William Pitt. (See 185 in "Who?") 

12. Sir Edwin Landseer, the youngest son of a 
family of boys, was born in London in 1802, and is cele- 
brated as a great animal painter. From his earliest infancy 
he had the finest advantages, his father being a noted en- 
graver. Landseer delighted in animals in his childhood, 
which he used to sketch when his hands were hardly beyond 
baby size, as he followed his father, who was devoted to 
him, into the fields. Some of these remarkable sketches, 
executed at five, seven, and ten years of age, are shown 
among the drawings exhibited at the Kensington Museum, 
London. When only fourteen he became a student in the 
Royal Academy, and contributed to public exhibitions. 
Two years later, when only sixteen, such had been his pro- 
gress, he painted "Dogs Fighting," which, after being 
on public exhibition, became the property of Sir George 
Beaumont. This was surpassed in 1820, when Landseer 
was only eighteen, by the "Dogs of St. Gothard dis- 
covering a Traveler in the Snow." It was engraved by 
his father, and became one of the most popular prints of 
the day. In 1826, when he had reached the required age 
of twenty-four, he was elected an associate of the Royal 
Academy ; four years later he became an Academician. 
A pupil subsequently of Hayden, with the latter he dis- 
sected a dead lion and mastered its anatomy. In 1826 
Landseer visited the Highlands, and from that time deer 



WHAT? 



273 



appeared to be the preferred subjects of his art. Horses 
and dogs also occupied his pencil in a large degree. He 
was remarkable for swiftness of execution, having been 
known to paint a perfect picture, complete in the smallest 
detail, in a couple of hours. Landseer received many- 
favors from Queen Victoria during his lifetime, and 
painted Milton's " Comus" in fresco in her summer- 
house. In conjunction with Baron Marochetti, he origi- 
nated the lions in Trafalgar Square. In 1850 the queen 
conferred upon him the honor of knighthood. Besides 
being an animal painter he has considerable reputation 
as a figure artist. Three of his most popular works are 
"A Dialogue at Waterloo," — this represents the Duke of 
Wellington pointing out the scene of the battle to the 
Marchioness of Douro, — " Bolton Abbey in the Olden 
Time," and the "Return from Hunting." The first of 
these is in the National Gallery, in London, which con- 
tains some thirteen more of his best pictures. In the 
Sheepshanks collection at Kensington there are sixteen 
of his paintings, among them the " Drover's Departure," 
and the "Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner." His pictures 
have been widely engraved and command a ready sale. 
Landseer's paintings brought him large sums, two in the 
same year being sold for the enormous amounts of two 
thousand five hundred guineas and a thousand guineas. 
These were the " Man proposes and God disposes" — two 
polar bears coming upon the relics of Sir John Franklin — 
and the "Piper and Pair of Nutcrackers." One peculi- 
arity of his work has been commented on ; that is, "he 
has seldom or ever painted an animal in decided move- 
ment: it is always in repose, or at the moment of arrested 
action." Landseer died in 1874. 

13. Galileo. (See 34-5 in "What?") 

14. Lawrence. (See 172 in "What?") 

15. Reynolds. (See 191 in " What?") 

16. Beethoven. (See 114 in " What?") 

24. The Great Thinker. — What English writer has 
been thus called ? Ans. Roger Bacon. (See 97 in 
"Who?") 

25. Poet-Laureate. — What is this office in England ? 
Ans. It is an office in the king's household, the holder 

M* 



274 



WHAT? 



of which is to compose an ode annually for the king's birth- 
day, New Year's, etc. (See 18 in "Who?") 

26. Mermaid Tavern. — What was it? Ans. It was 
a house on Friday Street, in London, where Shakspeare, 
Beaumont and Fletcher, Jonson, Carew, Raleigh, and 
others met as a club. 

27. Gout. — What great men died of it? Ans. John 
Milton, Thomas Gray, Leibnitz, Richard Henry Lee, 
Peter Paul Rubens. 

1. Milton. (See 3S in "Who?") 

2. Gray. (See 23 in " What?") 

3. Leibnitz. (See 210 in "Who?") 

4. Lee. (See 207 in "Who?") 

5. Rubens. (See 47 in "What?") 

28. Epileptic Fits. — What famous man was subject 
to them? Ans. Julius Caesar. (See 135 in "Who?") 

29. Poverty. — What great author died so poor that he 
had to be buried at the expense of a friend ? Ans. Samuel 
Butler. (See 89 in "Who?") 

30. Female Authors. — What female authors were 
never married? Ans. Jane Porter, Maria Edgeworth, 
Joanna Baillie, Adelaide Anne Procter, Hannah More, 
Agnes Strickland. 

1. Jane Porter was born in 1776, and died in 1850. 
She wrote two romances, " Thaddeus of Warsaw," in 
1803, and "The Scottish Chiefs," in 1810. Both of 
these were highly popular at one time. 

2. Maria Edgeworth, the daughter of Richard Lovell 
Edgeworth, was born in Oxfordshire, England, on the istof 
January, 1767. Her father having succeeded to an estate in 
Ireland, the family removed to that country when she was 
very young, and resided at Edgeworthtown, in Longford 
County. She commenced her literary career in the be- 
ginning of the nineteenth century, at first assisted by her 
father, in her "Essay on Irish Bulls." Soon after this 
appeared her "Castle Rackrent," the precursor of a co- 
pious series of tales, — national, moral, and fashionable, — 
which at once placed her in the first class of novelists, as 
a shrewd observer of manners, a warm-hearted observer 
of national humors, and a resolute upholder of good 
morals in fictions. Sir Walter Scott assures us that when 



WHA T? 



275 



he began his Waverley novels, it was with the thought of 
emulating Miss Edgeworth. Sir James Mackintosh gives 
her the highest praise. She died 21st of May, 1849. Her 
works are " Popular Tales," in three volumes; ''Leo- 
nora," a novel in two volumes; "Tales of Fashionable 
Life," in three volumes ; " Patronage," in four volumes ; 
"Harrington" and " Ormond," novels; a "Memoir" 
of her father, etc. She ranks as one of the most prolific 
writers of the nineteenth century. 

3. Joanna Baillie. (See 16 in "Who?") 

4. Adelaide Anne Procter, a gifted poetess and 
the eldest daughter of Bryan Waller Procter (see 9 in 
" Who ?"), was born in the year 1835. She first attracted 
notice about 1858 by two volumes of poems, entitled 
"Legends and Lyrics," which were followed by "A 
Chaplet of Verse," 1862. She also contributed to some 
of the monthly magazines, and was one of the writers in 
the "Victoria Regia," a volume containing a collection 
of poems from living authors issued from the "Victoria 
Press." She died February 2, 1864. 

5. Hannah More was born in Stapleton, Gloucester- 
shire, England, in 1745. She was the daughter of Jacob 
More, a village schoolmaster at Stapleton. Soon after 
her birth her father removed to Bristol, where he was ap- 
pointed to take charge of a parochial school at Saint Mary, 
Redcliffe. The family, which numbered four other daugh- 
ters, soon began to attract attention as one in which there 
was an unusual degree of talent. These sisters opened a 
boarding- and day-school for young ladies in Bristol, 
which for many years was the most flourishing establish- 
ment of the kind in the west of England. Hannah, from 
early life, was the most remarkable of the family. Her 
first literary efforts were some poetical pieces for the edifi- 
cation of her pupils. Among these was "The Search after 
Happiness," written when eighteen, but not published till 
1773. This pastoral drama met with a very flattering 
reception, and she tried her hand at the higher dramatic 
poetry, and wrote for the stage the tragedies of the "In- 
flexible Captive," " Percy," and " The Fatal Falsehood." 
Of these " Percy" was the most popular, having been 
acted fourteen nights consecutively. The reputation 



276 WHAT? 



which she thus acquired introduced her into the best lit- 
erary society of London, where she went in 1774, — into 
the circle in which Dr. Samuel Johnson, Burke, and Sir 
Joshua Reynolds moved. But shortly after her opinions 
of the stage changed, and these were her last dramatic 
productions. Under a deep conviction that to live for 
the glory of God and the good of one's fellow-creatures 
is the great object of human existence, and the only one 
which can bring peace at the last, she quitted, in the 
prime of her days, the bright circle of fashion and litera- 
ture, and, retiring into the neighborhood of Bristol, de- 
voted herself to a life of active Christian benevolence and 
to the composition of various works having for their ob- 
ject the moral and religious improvement of mankind. 
She retired into the country in 1786, and in two years 
after published her first prose work, "Thoughts on the 
Manners of the Great," and a " Poem on the Slave-Trade." 
These were followed, in 1791, by her "Estimate of the 
Religion of the Fashionable World." Her last sister, 
Martha, died in 1819, and soon after this Hannah ended 
her literary career with "Moral Sketches and Reflections 
on Prayer." Old and infirm, having outlived every 
known relation, she died with a Christian peace, in her 
eighty-eighth year, on the 7th of September, 1833. Her 
other works were " Ccelebs in Search of a Wife," perhaps 
the most popular of all that she has written, "Practical 
Piety and Christian Morals," "Essay on the Character 
and Writings of St. Paul," "Hints towards Forming the 
Character of a Young Princess," etc. Few authors of 
any age or century have done more to improve mankind 
— to make them wiser and better for both worlds — than 
Hannah More. 

6. Agnes Strickland, born in 1806, was an accom- 
plished writer of English history and of the lives of royal 
personages. She died in Hampstead, England, July, 1874. 
She was third daughter of a Suffolk country gentleman, 
Mr. Thomas Strickland, of Reydon Hall, near Southwold, 
descendant of an ancient family in Westmoreland. After 
her father's death, she and her elder sister Elizabeth came 
to London to reside, and became regular students in the 
British Museum Library, where they collected historical 



WHAT? 277 



materials and began jointly to compile works of perma- 
nent interest to the English nation. Their "Lives of 
the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest" ap- 
peared in successive volumes from 1840 to 1849. ^ was 
immediately followed by "Lives of the Queens of Scot- 
land" and "Lives of the English Princesses connected 
with the Royal Succession of Great Britain." She was 
an ardent partisan of Mary Stuart and all the Stuart kings. 
She was a great admirer of Sir Walter Scott, and eagerly 
read whatever he wrote. In 1862 Miss Strickland pro- 
duced a separate volume of the "Lives of the Bachelor 
Kings of England," namely, William Rufus, Edward V., 
and Edward VI. In 1866 followed her " Lives of Seven 
Bishops." At an earlier period she wrote a number of 
short tales, "Stories from History," " Illustrious British 
Children," and "The Pilgrims of Walsingham." She was 
in the receipt of a civil-list pension of one hundred pounds 
a year. 

31. Dr. Samuel Johnson. — What celebrated author 
wrote a novel in one week for which he was paid a thousand 
pounds? Ans. Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote "Rasselas." 

Johnson's friendship with Mr. Thrale, a great brewery 
merchant of Streatham, has passed into history. He 
lived almost wholly with him at Streatham for many 
years, meeting there Goldsmith, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
Lady Mary Montagu, — whom he never liked, — and many 
other congenial spirits. On the death of Mr. Thrale 
Johnson not only lost a warm friend, but his home was 
broken up as well. Here they had nursed him in his 
sickness, and treated him in every respect like one of the 
family. When he first went to Streatham he was com- 
pletely broken down in health and spirits, and confessed 
afterwards to Goldsmith that he owed his recovery to the 
kindness and attention of Mrs. Thrale. Johnson was a 
great bore at times, and so very unprepossessing in appear- 
ance as to be frequently shunned, till by his perseverance 
he made people like him. "His face was seamed and 
disfigured by scrofula; one eye was nearly sightless by dis- 
ease, and he had an almost convulsive movement either 
of his hands, lips, feet, or knee, and sometimes all to- 
gether." Notwithstanding these many drawbacks he was 

24 



278 WHAT? 



worshiped by Boswell, who proved himself a friend when 
all others deserted him. (See 90 in "Who?") 

32. The Alps. — What three conquerors crossed them 
with their armies ? Ans. Julius Caesar, Napoleon, and 
Hannibal. 

1. Julius Caesar. (See 135 in "Who?") 

2. Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest masters 
of military tactics that ever lived, was born in the little 
town of Ajaccio, on the island of Corsica, the 15th of 
August, 1769. It is related that Napoleon's mother 
being taken in labor suddenly while riding on horse- 
back, returned home to give birth to him, soon after en- 
tering the room, on an old piece of tapestry on which 
were figured the events of the Iliad. As a boy, he mani- 
fested a violent and passionate temper, and in the little 
disputes with his elder brother Joseph he always came 
off victor. It is also said of him that he delighted in 
running after the soldiers, who taught him military ma- 
noeuvres ; that his favorite plaything was a small brass 
cannon ; and that he regularly drilled the children of 
Ajaccio in battles with stones and wooden sabres. His 
first teacher was his mother, who exerted a powerful in- 
fluence upon his mind. She was known afterwards as 
Madame Letitia. In his tenth year he was sent to a mili- 
tary school at Brienne, and five years later to a military 
school in Paris to complete his studies. He was shocked 
at the expensive manner of living there, and wrote a 
letter against it to his late superior at Brienne. From a 
sub-lieutenant of artillery in 1785, he rose to be Emperor 
of France, and would perhaps have died such had not 
his insatiable thirst for glory induced him to attempt try- 
ing to conquer most of the other kingdoms. He wanted 
a throne for every one connected with him, and partly 
succeeded in his desire. He had three sisters and four 
brothers, of whom he disposed in the following manner: 
The eldest sister, Marie Anne Eliza, was made, in 1808, 
Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Marie Pauline, his favorite 
sister, was remarkably brilliant and beautiful, and she was 
created Duchess of Ganstalla. Caroline Marie was mar- 
ried to Murat, and became Queen of Naples. Joseph, 
the eldest brother, was successively King of Naples and 



WHAT? 279 



Spain. Lucien was offered a crown, but would not ac- 
cept it ; he was instead made prince of Canino. Louis 
was given the kingdom of Holland, and married Hortense 
Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine, by whom he had the 
son who became Napoleon III. They lived very unhap- 
pily together. Jerome, the youngest brother, was King 
of Westphalia. He married, while on a tour in the United 
States, a Miss Elizabeth Patterson, the daughter of a 
wealthy Baltimore merchant. Napoleon would never 
acknowledge the marriage or allow them to enter France. 
In consequence of this harsh decree Jerome was obliged 
to divorce her, and compelled to marry Catherine, the 
daughter of the King of Wiirtemberg. Napoleon visited 
Ajaccio every year, and interested himself in furthering 
the education as well as the fortunes of his brothers and 
sisters. Though not the oldest son, he was instinctively 
recognized as the true head of the family on the death 
of his father, in 1785. His father, Carlo Maria, studied 
law in Pisa, and early acquired prominence as an advo- 
cate and a follower of Paoli in the Corsican war against 
Genoa. His wife, the Madame Letitia, bore him thirteen 
children, eight only of whom grew to maturity. Napo- 
leon's first battle was in September, 1793. The Spanish 
and English were in possession of Toulon, which he was 
ordered to besiege ; here he displayed such extraordinary 
military intelligence and activity as to lay the foundation 
of his whole subsequent military career. After recon- 
noitring Toulon for a month, he communicated to the 
council of war a plan of attack, which was adopted, and 
which he himself executed with brilliant success. On the 
downfall of Robespierre in 1794, with whom he was sus- 
pected to be in sympathy, he was temporarily put under 
arrest, but at the end of a fortnight was set at liberty. On 
March 9, 1796, he married the beautiful and accomplished 
widow Josephine Beauharnais. She had two children, 
Hortense and Eugene ; it was through the latter that she 
made the acquaintance of the first consul, as Napoleon was 
called, three years later. Eugene went to him to ask for 
the sword that belonged to his father, and was treated 
with so much kindness that the young widow determined 
to call and thank him for his politeness to her son. Years 



280 WHAT? 



afterwards, when she had been crowned empress, and 
everything in France and out had given way to Napoleon, 
he divorced Josephine, retiring her to Malmaison, because 
she had no children, and he wanted an heir for the French 
throne. He married Maria Louisa, daughter of Francis 
I. and Maria Theresa of Austria, on the ist of April, 
1810. She was a sister of the unfortunate Marie Antoi- 
nette. By her he had a son, to whom he gave the title 
of King of Rome, but he died when in his twenty-second 
year, and the marriage for which Napoleon had given up 
so much gave him in return but little, as his son never 
occupied the throne intended for him. In February, 
1796, Napoleon was given command of the army of Italy, 
which for three or four years had been carrying on an in- 
decisive war against the Sardinians and Austrians, amid 
the denies of the Alps and the Ligurian Apennines. His 
army consisted of about thirty-five thousand men, and 
was in a miserable state of destitution as to clothing and 
provision, and considerably relaxed in discipline. The 
allied army opposed to him consisted of sixty thousand 
men, conducted by Beaulieu, an experienced and able 
general, and manoeuvred according to the most "skillful 
strategies of the time. But these great odds only made 
Napoleon rise the higher in his own estimation, and the 
more determined to win at any hazard. He had nothing 
to lose and much to gain by success. A formidable coali- 
tion was arrayed against France at that time, consisting of 
England, Austria, Naples, Bavaria, Piedmont, and several 
minor states, both of Germany and Italy ; but Austria 
was the principal of the league, and the possession of 
Italy the key to the situation. Napoleon's quick percep- 
tion soon saw this, and he at once proceeded to make 
himself master of Italy. In the short space of two years 
he had won a series of the most splendid victories on record, 
dictated forms of government to nearly the whole of Italy, 
humbled Austria, acquired large accessions of wealth and 
territory for France, and rendered the French arms feared 
by the world. Under these circumstances, his journey 
from Italy to Paris was, of course, a triumphal proces- 
sion ; the enthusiasm of the Parisians was immense ; the 
festivities in his honor were endless. Napoleon received 



WHAT? 281 



these honors with becoming moderation, and was in fact 
sombre and thoughtful. Being a member of the Institute, 
he assumed its dress, associated principally with men of 
science, and in all of the congratulatory addresses of the 
period was extolled for his simplicity, his modesty, and 
his complete want of ambition. The bait was not yet 
large enough for the mouth it was expected to fill. The 
Directory, then in power, had created an " army of Eng- 
land," with a view to hostilities against that country, 
and conferred the command of it on Napoleon. He ap- 
peared to favor the movement, but at heart disliked it, 
knowing how impracticable it was. He sought to substi- 
tute for it a dream of his own, the conquest of Egypt 
and the East. At last the Directory consented to this, 
and preparations were made to embark at Toulon. By 
May 9, 1798, a great army had been collected, and the 
expedition set sail on the 19th. This ended in failure, 
and on August 1 occurred his naval defeat by the English 
Nelson. Napoleon's fleet, consisting of thirteen ships of 
the line, besides frigates, was found in Aboukir Bay by 
Admiral Nelson, who had long been in pursuit of it, and 
had exultingly exclaimed, " I will have a peerage or West- 
minster Abbey." The English attacked with a degree of 
vigor and activity which was never surpassed in naval war- 
fare. Napoleon's whole squadron was destroyed or cap- 
tured, with the exception of two ships of the line and two 
frigates. This had been an expensive play to the French, 
as in three months they had lost four thousand men, who 
had either been killed or died of the plague. Napoleon 
tried to conceal the failure of his expedition under the 
glory of its immense scientific results, but he could not 
disguise from himself that his plans had singularly mis- 
carried. Joseph had informed him of the distracted con- 
dition of France and the growing unpopularity of the 
Directory, and he returned in time to take advantage of 
the political intrigues then rife, and by a coup d'etat to 
attain supreme power as first consul of the republic. 
During the height of Napoleon's greatness he showed 
himself to be a man ruled by petty whims and jealousies 
that ill accorded with the ideas one would otherwise have 
of his character. He was so intolerant of any one's shar- 

24* 



282 WHAT? 



ing his popularity, that Madame de Stael was banished 
from Paris on account of her wit and brilliancy, and the 
power she had of drawing around her the great men of 
her time. The beautiful Madame Recamier was also 
obliged to leave Paris, because this great little man could 
not bear that a woman should be more talked of in Paris 
than himself. Step by step he ascended the throne of 
France, and on December 2, 1804, was consecrated at the 
altar of Notre Dame " the high and mighty Napoleon I., 
Emperor of the French." He had requested the Pope 
to perform the ceremony of his coronation. Pius VII., 
after consulting with his cardinals, came to Paris for that 
purpose. Being emperor, Napoleon proceeded to sur- 
round himself with all the splendors and gauds supposed 
to be essential to dignity. He created a new nobility 
with sounding titles ; he opened a brilliant court ; he re- 
stored the etiquette of royalty, and in a thousand other 
ways sought to dazzle weak minds with ostentation and 
parade. The right of succession had been settled on his 
family, and apparently he had nothing else to wish for. 
The changes which had taken place in France rendered 
changes in the Italian government necessary, and from 
republics they were transformed into a kingdom. Na- 
poleon went to Milan, where, on May 26, 1805, he was 
anointed King of Italy, in the midst of imposing cere- 
monies and theatrical pomp. Josephine was crowned with 
him as Empress of the French, but not as Queen of Italy. 
The same summer of his coronation the northern powers 
listened to the solicitations of the English, and united in 
a coalition against the new emperor. This time he was 
to fight against Russia, Austria, England, and Sweden, 
and gained the battle of Ulm on the 20th of October, 
but lost the naval battle of Trafalgar on the next day. 
This victory was also gained by Nelson, over the com- 
bined fleets of Spain and France. Undaunted by the 
loss of this naval battle, he proceeded to Vienna, which 
he entered November 13, where he made his preparations 
to meet the combined armies of Russia and Austria, then 
concentrated on the plains of Olmutz. On December 
22, 1805, the grand encounter came on at Austerlitz, and 
after a struggle of unexampled energy, in which three 



WHAT? 283 



of the greatest armies of Europe, each commanded by an 
emperor, with the mastery of the continent for the prize, 
met in desperate strife, Napoleon won the victory, the 
most glorious perhaps of his career. The allies were 
thoroughly routed. The Emperor of Austria made instant 
peace, while the Emperor of Russia withdrew into his own 
territories. At the height of his glory he was divorced 
from Josephine, in 1809. This seems to have been the 
turning-point of his career, for with her departure Na- 
poleon's "star of destiny" grew dim, and then faded 
entirely. In 181 2 he invaded Russia with more than 
half a million of men, and, on the 15th of September, 
entered Moscow only to find it deserted and have it 
burned over his head. The retreat from Moscow was a 
terrible affair, which for various sufferings and horrors 
has no parallel in the annals of our race. Napoleon him- 
self returned immediately to France, and was almost the 
first to announce his disaster in his own capital, so rapidly 
had he fled from the scene. The loss of the French and 
their auxiliaries in this campaign was one hundred and 
fifty thousand slain, one hundred and thirty-two thou- 
sand dead of fatigue, hunger, disease, and cold, and one 
hundred and ninety-three thousand made prisoners. Yet 
the emperor had scarcely reached Paris when he issued 
orders for new conscriptions, and still thought of pros- 
ecuting the war. Finally Paris itself was obliged to ca- 
pitulate, and on March 31, 181 4, Alexander of Russia 
and his allies entered the city amid the acclamations of 
the people. His own generals insisted that he ought to 
abdicate, and the Senate declared that he had forfeited 
the throne, and then absolved all Frenchmen from their 
allegiance. On the nth of April he signed his surrender 
of power. He was allowed the sovereignty of the island 
of Elba, with a revenue of six millions of francs, and 
after taking leave of his army at Fontainebleau, he de- 
parted for his new abode. Louis XVIII. soon resumed the 
seat of his ancestors. Ten months later, Napoleon, who 
had not ceased to watch and foment the intrigues of Paris, 
secretly returned to France. Escaping from Elba Feb- 
ruary 26, 1815, he landed at Cannes, March 1, with one 
thousand of his old guards. As soon as his arrival was 



284 WHAT? 



known part of the army sent against him joined his 
cause, headed by Colonel Labedoyere and Marshal Ney. 
He made a triumphal progress towards Paris. On March 
20, and before a shot was fired, Louis XVIII. was driven 
from the throne to which he had just been restored by the 
combined armies of the world. Drained as France was, 
Napoleon raised two hundred thousand men to meet more 
than double that number of enemies. On the 18th of 
June the famous battle of Waterloo was fought, when the 
Duke of Wellington gained the victory. On June 22, 
just one hundred days after he left Elba, Napoleon signed 
the second abdication ; he was required to embark in- 
stantly for the United States. Finally the British gov- 
ernment ordered his detention as a prisoner; he had 
tried to escape, but finding it impossible, had voluntarily 
surrendered himself to Captain Maitland, of the British 
war ship Bellerophon, and he was finally consigned to the 
island of St. Helena, off the western coast of Africa, for 
life. Here he died, May 5, 1821, of an ulcer in his 
stomach, the same disease that had carried off his father. 
Twenty years after his death, Louis Philippe procured 
the removal of his ashes to France, where they were de- 
posited, December 15, 1840, beneath a magnificent mon- 
ument in the Hotel des Invalides. Napoleon passed his 
time while at St. Helena in alternately fretting at the re- 
straints imposed upon him and in dictating memoirs of 
his extraordinary career. 

3. Hannibal was a great Carthaginian general, who 
flourished in 218 B.C. He was the leader in the second 
Punic war, and was the son of Hamilcar, under whom the 
first Punic war was principally conducted. When only 
nine years of age he took, at the instance of his father, a 
solemn oath at the altar, declaring himself the eternal 
enemy of the Romans ; and never had they so terrible a 
foe. Like most other great soldiers he was capable of 
bearing fatigue and hardship, heat and cold, good and 
bad fortune in the extreme with entire equanimity and 
without shrinking. Hannibal was simple in dress, rigid 
in self-government; he ate, drank, and slept only so much 
as to support his body and give him strength to perform 
the intentions of his great mind. We have some accounts 



WHAT? 285 



which tarnish his great name, to the effect that he was 
often negligent of his truth and honor, that he was cruel, 
and a scorner of the religion of his country. Hannibal, 
crossing the sea from Africa to Europe and taking Sagun- 
tum, in Spain, marched through Spain and over the Pyren- 
nean hills into Gaul (now France), along the coast of that 
country, and over the lofty Alps crowned with snow to 
Italy, a land journey of o.ne thousand miles. Such an 
exploit had never been done before. The difficulties of 
the way would have disheartened any other man. Of 
course he was necessitated to pass through a number of 
barbarous tribes, with whom he was obliged to fight for a 
passage, the Gauls vainly trying to oppose it. When he 
reached Italy he had only twenty thousand foot and six 
thousand horse. Several Roman generals — among whom 
were Marcus Minucius and Fabius Maximus, dictator of 
Rome — of approved talents opposed him. Yet he was on 
the point of making himself master of proud Rome. In 
the first engagement near the Tacinus the Romans were 
defeated with great loss of life, as also they were in the 
battles of Thebia, and the one near Lake Thrasymenus, in 
Tuscany. Advancing to Cannae, the Carthaginians were 
opposed by the whole force of Rome; but in vain. Varro 
gave orders for the battle against the wish of his colleague 
Paulus ^Emilius ; but the encounter once began the latter 
fought with the utmost skill and bravery, and died covered 
with wounds. In the battle of Cannae the Romans lost fifty 
thousand men, besides four thousand taken prisoners and 
ten thousand that were taken after the battle in both the 
camps. The loss of the Carthaginians did not amount to 
six thousand. After this great success Hannibal's friends 
advised him to pursue his fortunes and to enter Rome 
along with the fugitives, assuring him that in five days he 
might sup in the Capitol. He did not see fit to do this, 
and on this account it was that a Carthaginian named 
Barca said to him in some heat, " Hannibal, you know 
how to gain a victory but not how to use it."* Hannibal 
himself afterwards acknowledged his mistake, and used 
often to cry out, " O Cannae ! Cannae !" From this time 

* Plutarch. 



286 WHAT? 



the tide of success was turned against him. Wintering 
his troops in the luxurious city of Capua, they lost much 
of their virtue. Fabius once more took the field, and, 
the Romans concentrating all their strength in the com- 
mon cause, victory again crowned their standard. Han- 
nibal retreated before the brave Marcellus. The forces 
of the King of Macedon, who had joined the Carthagin- 
ians, were also defeated at this juncture. While Fabius 
conducted the war prosperously, by always avoiding a 
general engagement, the younger Scipio accomplished 
the entire reduction of Spain. Hannibal's brother As- 
drubal was sent into Italy, after a long delay, to assist 
him, but was defeated by the Consul Claudius and slain 
in battle. After Scipio's triumphs in Spain he went to 
Africa, where his path was marked with terror and vic- 
tory. This policy he himself had suggested to the Ro- 
man Senate, as the only probable means of driving the 
Carthaginians out of Italy. As he had expected, when 
the citizens of Carthage realized the danger they were in, 
Hannibal was recalled to protect his native land. He 
had been absent sixteen years. He was only twenty-six 
years old when he crossed the Alps with his army on the 
way to Italy. Scipio was an antagonist worthy of Han- 
nibal. The meeting at Zama, in Africa, between Han- 
nibal and Scipio, the two greatest warriors in the world, 
was highly interesting. They gazed on each other with 
awe and admiration. The Carthaginian general in vain 
strove to gain honorable terms of peace. The youthful 
Roman, however, answered him with pride and disdain, 
and the two armies prepared for battle. The contest was 
terrible indeed, but the superior vigor of the Romans, 
notwithstanding the skill of the Carthaginians, prevailed. 
The latter lost forty thousand men in killed and in pris- 
oners, and were thus obliged to conclude a fatal peace. 
Carthage was nearly ruined. Being hunted by the 
Romans from place to place, Hannibal committed suicide 
in the seventieth year of his age, at the court of Prusias, 
King of Bithynia. "Let us relieve the Romans of their 
fears," said he, "by closing the existence of a feeble 
old man." The battle of Zama ended the second Punic 
war, 201 B.C. 



WHA T? 



287 



33. Genius and Taste. — What ancient city was cele- 
brated for these qualities? Ans. Athens. 

Athens, the capital of Greece, was named for Minerva, 
one of whose appellations was Athense: she being the god- 
dess who protected the city. It was called by the ancients 
the Eye of Greece, the learned city, and the school of 
the world. Athens was situated in a large plain, about 
five miles from the sea, having in the midst of it a mount. 
On this rocky mount the citadel was built; it was called 
the Acropolis, or the upper city. When, from the in- 
crease of its inhabitants, the lower grounds were occupied 
by buildings, these constituted the lower city. In its most 
flourishing state Athens was twenty-five miles in circum- 
ference. The upper city (standing on the mount) was 
sixteen miles in circumference, and each portion is said 
to have contained four hundred and forty thousand in- 
habitants, the far greater portion of whom were slaves. 
The upper city was surrounded by a strong wall, in which 
were nine beautiful gates. One was called the grand en- 
trance, and was ascended by steps covered with white 
marble. The lower city was also encompassed with 
strong walls. In the citadel were several magnificent 
edifices, the chief of which were the temple of Neptune 
and the beautiful temple of Minerva, called the Parthe- 
non. (See 122 in " What?") In the lower city stood the 
most magnificent structure of Athens, and scarcely paral- 
leled in the ancient world, the temple of Jupiter Olympus. 
(See 41 in ''What?") Athens was the home of men of 
letters, arts, politics, and science. It was here that 
Socrates taught ; that Solon gave his wise laws ; that Anac- 
reon displayed his wit ; that Phidias carved in marble 
the vivid imaginations of his brain ; that Thucydides, 
finding he was no soldier, devoted his life to writing the 
great exploits of others ; and here Demosthenes employed 
his burning eloquence to stir the hearts of the Athenians 
against the generals of Alexander, who were approaching 
the city; and here Apollonius strove to give to the world 
the rules by which coming generations might learn to be 
as correct and elegant in speech as were the Athenians 
of old. 

34. Blindness. — What great authors were thus af- 



WHAT? 



flicted ? Am. Isaac Disraeli, Homer, Ossian, Milton, 
Galileo, Prescott, and Heine. (See 207 in " What?")* 

1. Isaac Disraeli was born in 1766, and died in 
1848. He was the son of an Italian Jew, and father to 
the Rt. Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, Premier of England. 
He became blind while writing "Amenities of English 
Literature." He wrote besides, "Curiosities of Litera- 
ture," "Quarrels of Authors," and "Calamities of Au- 
thors." All these works are the result of extensive read- 
ing, and contain a vast amount of curious, interesting, 
and valuable information. 

2. Homer. (See 24 in "Who?") 

3. Ossian was a rude Caledonian bard. He is sup- 
posed to have flourished in the fourth century, and to 
have been the son of Fingal. He wrote in Gaelic ; and 
the poems that go by his name, translated by Macpherson, 
are marked by a simple and sublime wildness. If they 
are really Ossian's, he must be considered as the first of 
the poets of this period. 

4. Milton. (See 38 in "Who?") 

5. Galileo was the eldest son of Vincenzio de Bona- 
juti de Galilei, a Florentine noble, and was born in Pisa 
on the 1 8th of February, 1564. He was a great lover of 
music, and excelled on the lute, which was his favorite 
instrument. He was equally skilled in painting, and used 
to say had circumstances permitted him to choose his own 
profession, he would have devoted himself to the brush 
and easel. Galileo made discoveries in astronomy that 
were too astonishing, and too opposed to the doctrines of 
Aristotle, to escape the censures of the philosophers of the 
age ; no sooner was it known that he had embraced the 
Copernican system than he was summoned before the In- 
quisition. Into its terrible dungeons was this great man 
twice thrown, where, in the whole, he passed three or 
four miserable years, and this for embracing opinions then 
deemed so false in philosophy and so heretical and con- 
trary to the word of God. Galileo was never married, 
but by his mistress, Marina Gamba, a Venetian of the 
lower class, he had three children, two daughters and a 
son. He invented the thermometer about the year 1602. 
By some it is claimed than Santorio invented this instru- 



* Handel was also blind. (See 114-1 in " What?") 



WHA Ti 



289 



nient, but it is generally ceded to Galileo. In 1609 he 
invented the telescope. Among the discoveries that have 
rendered his name immortal are his observations of the 
inequalities on the surface of the moon, and his knowl- 
edge of her vibrations ; his calculations of the longitude 
by the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, which he first no- 
ticed ; his invention of the cycloid, and his perception 
of the increasing celerity in the descent of bodies. 
Galileo lived seventy-eight years. Towards the close of 
his long life he became blind. (See 10 in " Where?") 

6. William Hickling Prescott was born in Salem, 
Massachusetts, on the 4th of May, 1796. His grand- 
father was Colonel William Prescott, who, with General 
Putnam, commanded at the battle of Bunker Hill. His 
father, Hon. William Prescott, removed to Boston in 
1808, where for nearly forty years he practiced law, emi- 
nently distinguished as a jurist, and as one of the wisest 
and ablest men that Massachusetts has produced. In 1818 
our author graduated at Harvard College. It was his in- 
tention to follow the law, but just before commencement, 
by accident he lost one of his eyes, and the other from 
sympathy became so weak that he could not use it with 
safety. He passed two years in traveling in England and 
on the Continent, where he consulted the best oculists, 
but could obtain no relief. On his return he determined 
to devote his life to literature, and become a historian ; 
in this way he could better employ the eyes of others. 
He spent ten years in preparing himself for his work. 
His father was rich, and there was no necessity for his 
doing anything, but he had a never-flagging industry, which 
would not allow of his sitting idly down and letting the 
wheel of fortune turn at his side without giving a good 
round pull to the wheel himself. He selected for his sub- 
ject the "History of Ferdinand and Isabella." This 
appeared in 1838, and was published simultaneously in 
London and Boston. It was received on both sides of 
the Atlantic with the greatest praise. It has run through 
many editions, and been translated into German, French, 
and Spanish. In 1843 ca ™e his " Conquest of Mexico," 
and in 1847 n ^ s "Conquest of Peru." In 1850 Prescott 
made a short visit to England, when the University of 

N 25 



290 



WHA T? 



Oxford conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor 
in Civil Law. He died while at work on his "History 
of the Reign of Philip the Second," having finished only 
three volumes, comprising about fifteen years of his reign, 
leaving twenty-eight more to be treated. He was seized 
with apoplexy, and died at his residence on Beacon Street, 
Boston, on the 28th of January, 1859. 

35. The Tower in London. — What peculiar asso- 
ciations are linked with it? Ans. The Tower, which was 
built by one of the English kings (see 138 in " Who ?"), 
was used as a royal palace till the time of Charles II. Sir 
Walter Raleigh was imprisoned here, and it is said that 
while confined within its walls he wrote his " History of 
the World." The two young sons of Edward IV. were 
murdered in the Bloody Tower. Queen Elizabeth was 
imprisoned in the Bell Tower. Afterwards the Earl of 
Essex (Robert Devereux), the favorite of " good Queen 
Bess," was imprisoned in Devereux Tower, called in honor 
of him ! The lovely and unfortunate Lady Jane Grey 
was confined in the Brick Tower. Anne Boleyn, the un- 
happy wife of Henry VIII., was beheaded on Tower 
Green. 

36. Montgomery. — What two poets by this name? 
Ans. James and Robert. 

1. James Montgomery. (See 42 in "Who?") 

2. Robert Montgomery was born in 1807, and was 
minister of Percy Street Episcopal Chapel, London, and 
an author of several volumes of poetry, which is now but 
little read, though very popular in its day. His " Omni- 
presence of the Deity" passed through twenty-six edi- 
tions. He died in 1856. 

37. Prisons. — What celebrated works have been com- 
posed in prisons? Ans. " Gondibert," "Opus Majlis," 
" Rimini," " Pleasures of Imprisonment," "History of 
the World," "Don Quixote," " Pilgrim's Progress." 

1. "Gondibert" was partly written by Sir William 
Davenant while in Cowes Castle. (See 18 in "Who?") 

2. " Opus Majus" was written during the ten years' 
imprisonment of Roger Bacon. (See 97 in "Who?") 

3. " Rimini" was finished by Leigh Hunt while in 
prison. (See 155 in " What?") 



WHA 77 



291 



4. " Pleasures of Imprisonment" was written 
by James Montgomery while in prison. (See 42 in 
" Who?") 

5. "History of the World" was written by Sir 
Walter Raleigh while confined in the Tower, London. 
(See 126 in "Who?") 

6. " Don Quixote" was commenced by Cervantes 
during his confinement in the Inquisition. (See 64 in 
"Who?") 

7. " Pilgrim's Progress" was written by John Bun- 
yan during his twelve years' imprisonment in Bedford 
jail. 

John Bunyan was born in the village of Elstow, near 
Bedford, in 1628. His father was a brazier or tinker, 
and the son was brought up in the same trade. Though 
his parents were extremely poor they sent him to the best 
school they could afford, and thus he learned to read and 
write. He relates of himself that he was early thrown 
among vile companions, of whom he learned every vice 
that flesh is heir to. At the age of nineteen he married 
a good, religious wife, and soon after he left off profanity, 
and began to think of better and more serious things. In 
1653, when twenty-five years old, he joined the Baptist 
church at Bedford. He occasionally addressed small 
meetings of the church, and at their urgent request, so 
full of power and unction did they deem his preaching, 
that when their pastor died in 1655, he was desired by 
them to fill for a time his place. This he did, preaching 
also in other places, and attracting great attention. For 
five or six years he preached without interruption, but in 
November, 1660, he was taken up, on a warrant from a jus- 
tice. The bill of indictment against him ran to this effect : 
"That John Bunyan, of the town of Bedford, laborer, 
hath devilishly and perniciously abstained from com- 
ing to church" (the Established Church is meant) "to 
hear divine service, and is a common upholder of several 
unlawful meetings and conventicles," etc. The result of 
course was that he was convicted, and was sent to Bedford 
jail, where he was imprisoned during twelve long years. 
During this period he wrote his immortal " Pilgrim's Pro- 
gress," than which no other book, the Bible excepted, 



292 



WHA T? 



has ever had so great a sale. No sooner was he out of 
prison than he entered at once upon his Master's work, 
preaching the divine truths not only to his former con- 
gregation, but everywhere he went. Once a year he paid 
a visit to his old friends in London, where his reputation 
was so great that thousands flocked to hear him ; and if 
but a day's notice were given, the meeting-house could 
not hold half the people that attended. He continued 
his labors till 1688, when, having taken a violent cold in 
a rain-storm while on a journey to preach, he died the 
1 2th of August, in the sixty-first year of his age. Bunyan 
had a blind child to whom he was devotedly attached. 
His other works are " One Thing is Needful," "A Dis- 
course touching Prayer," " Grace Abounding to the Chief 
of Sinners," being an account of his own life, the " Life 
and Death of Mr. Badman," etc. (See 232 in " Who?") 

38. Shoemaker. — What English poet was of this 
trade? Ans. Bloomfield. 

39. Robert Bloomfield. — What poem did he write 
in the garret amidst the noise of the hammers? Ans. 
" The Farmer's Boy." 

Robert Bloomfield was the son of a tailor at Honing- 
ton, in Suffolk, England, and was born on the 3d of De- 
cember, 1 766. At the early age of eleven he was literally 
the Farmer's Boy of his own poem, being placed with 
Mr. Austin, a farmer in Sapiston, Suffolk. In this situa- 
tion, which he has so accurately described, and where he 
first imbibed his enthusiastic attachment to the charms of 
nature, he continued for two years and a half, when he 
was apprenticed to his brother George, a shoemaker, in 
London. The boy's principal occupation there was to 
wait upon the journeymen. He had much leisure, and 
devoted himself to newspaper reading. He was soon able 
to intelligently comprehend t and admire the speeches of 
Burke, Fox, and other statesmen of the day. A perusal of 
some poetry in the "London Magazine" led to his earliest 
attempts at verse, which he sent to a newspaper, under the 
title of "The Milkmaid and the Sailor's Return." In 
1784, in order to avoid the consequences of some unpleas- 
ant disputes among his brethren of the trade, he retired 
for two months to the country, and was received by his 



WHAT? 293 



former master, Mr. Austin, with the kindest hospitality. 
Here, free from the smoke, the noise, and the contentions 
of the city, he imbibed that love of rural simplicity and 
rural innocence which fitted him, in a great degree, to be 
the writer of such a work as "The Farmer's Boy." After 
this visit to his native fields he recommenced his business 
as a ladies' shoemaker, in London, and shortly afterwards 
married a young woman by the name of Church. He 
then hired a room in Bell Alley, Coleman Street, and 
worked in the garret of the house. It was here, in the 
midst of six or seven other workmen, that he composed 
the main part of his celebrated poem. Two or three pub- 
lishers, to whom he first offered it, learning his occupa- 
tion, and seeing him so poorly clad, refused it with almost 
contempt. At length it reached the hands of Capel Lofft, 
Esq., who sent it, with the strongest recommendations, 
to Mr. Hill, the proprietor of the "Monthly Mirror," 
who negotiated the sale of the poem with the publishers, 
Verner & Hood. Fifty pounds was originally stipulated 
as the price of the poem, but it becoming at once popular, 
these liberal gentlemen voluntarily gave Bloomfield two 
hundred additional pounds, and secured him a portion of 
the copyright. Within three years after its publication 
twenty-six thousand copies of it were sold. His good for- 
tune, which he said appeared to him as a dream, enabled 
him to remove to a more comfortable habitation ; but 
though he continued working at his trade, he did not 
neglect the cultivation of his poetical talents. His fame 
was increased by the subsequent publication of his "Rural 
Tales," "Ballads and Songs," "Good Tidings, or News 
from the Farm," "Wild Flowers," and "Banks of the 
Wye." But an indiscriminate liberality towards his 
numerous poor relations, together with a growing family, 
brought him into pecuniary difficulties, which, added to 
long-continued ill health, so preyed upon his mind that 
he was reduced at last to a state little short of insanity. 
He died at Shefford, August 19, 1823, at the age of fifty- 
seven. 

40. Sisters. — What three great writers married sisters? 
Ans. Coleridge, Southey, and Lovell married the Misses 
Fricker, of Bristol. 

25* 



294 



WHAT? 



i. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was the son of the 
Rev. John Coleridge, vicar of Ottery, and was born in 
that place in 1772. He lost his father in early life, and 
obtained, by the kindness of a friend, a presentation to 
Christ Church Hospital, London. He made extraor- 
dinary advances in scholarship, and amassed a great 
variety of miscellaneous knowledge, but in that random, 
desultory manner which through life prevented him from 
accomplishing what his great abilities qualified him for 
achieving. His reputation at Christ Church promised a 
brilliant career at Cambridge, which university he entered 
in 1790, in his nineteenth year. In 1794 he became ac- 
quainted with the poet Southey, and a warm friendship 
soon ripened between them. At Bristol they formed the 
resolution, with Lovell, of founding what they termed a 
Pantisocracy, or a republic of pure freedom, on the banks 
of the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania. In 1795 Coleridge 
married Sarah Fricker, of Bristol, and the other two mar- 
ried her sisters, so the whole scheme was given up. This 
proved, for Coleridge, a very unhappy marriage, simply 
on the grounds of incompatibility of temper and disposi- 
tion. Mrs. Coleridge was wanting in all cordial admira- 
tion, or indeed, comprehension, of her husband's intellec- 
tual powers. De Quincey says that the marriage was not a 
deliberate act of Coleridge's, but was in a manner forced 
upon him by the scrupulous Southey, who said he had 
gone too far in his attentions to Miss Fricker to honor- 
ably retreat. After his marriage, Coleridge settle^ at 
Clevedon, near Bristol, and projected many plans of in- 
dustrious occupation in the fields of literature ; but he 
soon became tired of this retreat, and removed to Bristol, 
where he was materially aided in his designs for publica- 
tion by the very generous and sympathetic Joseph Cottle. 
He first started a weekly political paper called the "Watch- 
man," most of which he wrote himself; but he only issued 
ten numbers of this, owing to his irregular habits. Late 
in 1796 he retired to a cottage in Nether Stowey, in Som- 
ersetshire, on the grounds of his friend and benefactor, 
Mr. Poole, and near Mr. Wordsworth. While he resided 
here he wrote the most of his poems, though they were 
not published till later. These were "Lyrical Ballads," 



WHAT? 



2 95 



" Christabel," "The Ancient Mariner," and his tragedy 
of "Remorse." Mr. Thomas Wedgevvood and brother, 
wealthy gentlemen and warm friends of Coleridge's, sent 
him. into North Germany, where, at the Gottingen Uni- 
versity, he completed his education after his own scheme. 
He studied diligently while there, and afterwards intro- 
duced German philosophy to the notice of British schol- 
ars. With Thomas Wedgewood he traveled through 
England, and remained with him till the time of his 
death, when he received a regular annuity of seventy-five 
pounds. The other brother granted him an equal allow- 
ance. Three or four years after his marriage he settled at 
Keswicks, in Cumberland, near the " lakes," where his 
two companion poets, Wordsworth and Southey, had pre- 
ceded him. In the mean time the fearful habit of opium- 
eating had so grown upon him that he was, at the end of 
his life, a complete. slave to it, and, unlike his admirer De 
Quincey, unable to break from its chain. In 1804 he went 
to Malta, thinking the change would do his enfeebled 
health good ; but it was not so, for there, as at home, he 
was ruled by the opium fiend, and returned in 1806. 
From this period till about 1816 he led a wandering life, 
sometimes with one friend, and sometimes with another, 
and much separated from his family. He was with 
Wordsworth and his sister much of the time, seeming to 
cling to them more than to any one else. His wife and 
children occupied a portion of the generous Southey 's 
mansion while he was earning a fitful support by lec- 
turing, publishing, and writing for the London papers. 
The great defect in his character was the want of resolute- 
ness of will. His opium-eating was destroying his own 
happiness and that of those nearest to him, involving him 
in meanness, deceit, and dishonesty, and in the year 181 6 
he placed himself under the care of Dr. Gilman, of High- 
gate, London, and with his generous family he remained 
till his death, July 25, 1834. After his death collections 
were made of his "Table-Talk, and other Literary Re- 
mains," in seven volumes. His principal works are the 
two "Lay Sermons," the " Biographia Literaria," the 
"Friend," in three volumes, the "Aids to Reflection," 
and the "Constitution of the Church and State." In 



296 WHAT? 



conversation Coleridge particularly shone ; here, proba- 
bly, he never had his equal. He once said to Lamb, 
"Did you ever hear me preach?" "I never heard you 
do anything else," was the quick retort. If Coleridge 
was unfortunate in his worldly prosperity, he was unusu- 
ally favored with a host of zealous friends, who seemed to 
make it their pleasure to do all in their power to minister 
to his diseased soul. Fast as one dropped off, another 
and another succeeded to brighten his path. 

2. Robert Southey. (See 3 in "What?") 

3. Robert Lovell is known only as the brother-in-law 
of Southey and Coleridge. Cleveland incidentally speaks 
of him as a poet, but we find no mention of him elsewhere. 

41. Seven Wonders of the World. — What were 
they? Am. The Egyptian Pyramids, Temple of Diana 
at Ephesus, the Walls and Hanging-Gardens of Babylon, 
Colossus of Rhodes, Statue of Jupiter Olympus at Elis, 
Temple of Belus, Lake Mceris. 

1. The Egyptian Pyramids commence immediately 
south of Cairo, but on the opposite side of the Nile, and 
extend in an uninterrupted range for many miles in a 
southerly direction, parallel with the banks of the river. 
The first pyramid is said to have been erected by Cheops, 
a prince so hated by the Egyptians that they would never 
mention his name. There are twenty of them in different 
parts of the country, but three are superior to the rest in 
size and magnificence. The one generally ascribed to 
Cheops is four hundred and eighty feet nine inches in 
height, measured perpendicularly, and the area of its basis 
comprehends eleven acres of ground. This makes it 
forty-three feet nine inches higher than St. Peter's, at 
Rome. It has steps entirely around it, made with polished 
stones, so large that the breadth and depth of every step 
is one single stone. The smallest stone is thirty feet in 
length. The number of steps amounts to two hundred 
and eight. These pyramids have been demonstrated by 
modern researches to have been royal sepulchres, but their 
foundation is lost in antiquity. They are supposed, how- 
ever, to have been erected between one and two thousand 
years B.C. It is asserted by Pliny and Diodorus that no 
less than three hundred and sixty thousand men were em- 



WHAT? 297 



ployed in erecting the largest pyramid. It is also said that 
twenty years were spent in the work. (See 2 in "How?") 
2. Temple of Diana at Ephesus was built by the 
Ephesians, who were desirous of providing for their god- 
dess a magnificent temple, worthy of the reputation of her 
immense riches. The fortunate discovery of marble in 
Mount Prion gave them new vigor. The cities of Asia so 
greatly esteemed Diana that they contributed largely to 
the enterprise. Crcesus was at the expense of many of 
the columns. The spot chosen for it was a marsh, as 
most likely to preserve the structure free from gaps and 
uninjured by earthquakes. The foundation was made with 
charcoal rammed, and with fleeces. The edifice was 
exalted on a basement with ten steps. The architects 
were Ctesiphon of Crete and his son Metagenes, 541 B.C., 
and their plan was continued by Demetrius, a priest of 
Diana ; but the whole was completed by Daphnis of 
Miletus, and a citizen of Ephesus, the building having 
occupied two hundred and twenty-one years. It was the 
first specimen of the Ionic style in which the fluted col- 
umns and capital with volutes were introduced. The 
whole length of the temple was four hundred and twenty- 
five feet, and the breadth two hundred and twenty, 
with one hundred and twenty-seven columns of the 
Ionic order and Parian marble, each of a single shaft, 
and sixty feet high. Of these columns, thirty-six were 
carved, and one of them, perhaps as a model, by Scopas. 
The temple had a double row of columns, fifteen on 
either side. It is not certain whether it had a roof or not, 
— probably over the cell only. The folding-doors or 
gates had been kept in glue for four years, and were made 
of cypress-wood highly polished, which had been treasured 
up for four generations. Four hundred years after, these 
were found by Mutianus as fresh and beautiful as when 
new. The dimensions of this great temple excite ideas 
of uncommon grandeur from mere massiveness ; but the 
notices we collect of its interior ornamentation will in- 
crease our admiration. It was the repository in which 
the great artists of antiquity dedicated their most perfect 
works to posterity. Praxiteles and his son Cephisodorus 
adorned the shrine ; Scopas contributed a statue of Hec- 

N* 



298 WHAT? 



ate ; Timarete finished a picture of the goddess, the 
most ancient in Ephesus ; and Parrhasius and Apelles em- 
ployed their skill to embellish the walls. Apelles's cele- 
brated picture of Alexander the Great was in this temple, 
for which twenty talents of gold was given. Twenty years 
after, Alexander, during his expedition against Persia, 
offered to appropriate his spoils to the restoration of the 
temple — it had been set fire to the very night he was born 
and considerably injured — if the Ephesians would consent 
to allow him the sole honor, and would place his name on 
the temple. They declined the proposal, with the flattering 
remark that it was not right for one deity to erect a temple 
to another. National vanity was, however, the real ground 
of their refusal. There is nothing left now of this mag- 
nificent edifice, and the very site is even yet undetermined.* 
3. The Walls and Hanging-Gardens of Baby- 
lon. — It was during the reign of Semiramis that these 
wonderful gardens were built. They were composed of 
several large terraces, one above the other. The ascent 
from terrace to terrace was by stairs ten feet wide, and the 
whole pile was sustained by vast arches, strengthened by 
a massy wall of great thickness. On the tops of the 
arches were first laid prodigiously large flat stones. Over 
these was a layer of reeds, mixed with bitumen, upon- 
which were two tiers of bricks, closely cemented together 
with plaster. The whole was covered with thick sheets of 
lead, upon which lay the mould of the garden. This 
mould was so deep that the largest trees might take root 
in it, and covered with these and other plants and every 
variety of flowers, nothing could be conceived grander 
and more picturesque. The hanging-gardens were in the 
palace court-yard, and the palace itself covered seven 
miles and a half. The walls of Babylon were built of 
bricks baked in the sun, cemented with bitumen instead 
of mortar, and were encompassed by a broad and deep 
ditch, lined with the same materials, as were also the 
banks of the river in its course through the city, the in- 
habitants descending to the water by steps through small 
brass gates. Over the river was a grand bridge connect- 



* Anthon's Classical Dictionary. 



WHAT? 299 



ing the two halves of the city, which stood, the one part 
on its eastern the other on its western bank, the river 
running nearly north and south. The bridge had a palace 
at each end, with a subterranean passage beneath the 
river from one to the other. It was the palace on the 
west side of the river that contained the hanging-gardens. 

4. Colossus of Rhodes. — This was an immense 
brazen image, erected 300 B.C., and was the workmanship 
of Chares, who was twelve years in making it. Its height 
was one hundred and five Grecian feet. There were few 
people who could encompass the thumb with their arms, 
and its fingers were larger than most statues. It was hol- 
low, and in its cavities were large stones, placed there to 
counterbalance its weight, and render it steady on its 
pedestal. Its cost was three hundred talents (nearly three 
hundred and seventeen thousand dollars), and the money 
was obtained from the sale of the machines and military 
engines which Demetrius Poliorcetes had left behind him 
when he raised the siege of Rhodes. The Colossus is 
supposed to have stood with distended legs upon the two 
moles which formed the entrance into the harbor. There 
was a winding staircase leading to the top of the statue, 
from which one might see in the dim distance Syria, and 
the ships that went to Egypt. It stood only about fifty- 
six years, when it was broken off below the knees and 
thrown down by an earthquake. 

5. Statue of Jupiter Olympus at Elis. — This 
wonderful piece of art was done by Phidias after he fin- 
ished the one of Minerva, which was in the Parthenon 
at Athens. These two were his most celebrated pieces of 
statuary. That of Jupiter at Elis was sixty feet high. 
The god was represented as sitting on his throne ; in his 
right hand holding a figure of victory, made of gold and 
ivory, in his left a sceptre, beautifully adorned with all 
kinds of metals, and having on the top of it a golden 
eagle. His brows were encircled with a crown, made to 
imitate leaves of olive. His robe was of massive gold, 
curiously adorned — by a kind of encaustic work probably 
— with various figures of animals, and also of lilies. The 
sandals, too, were of gold. The throne was. inlaid with 
all kinds of precious materials, — ebony, ivory, and gems, 



3 oo WHAT? 



— and was adorned with sculptures of exquisite beauty. 
On the base was an inscription recording the name of the 
artist. It was in the Olympian temple at Elis. 

6. The Temple of Belus was at the foot of the 
hanging- gardens, and was composed of a square, each side 
of which was a furlong in length. It was built with eight 
towers, one above another, decreasing gradually at the 
top, and was a furlong in height. 

7. Lake Mceris has been affirmed to be the most 
wonderful of all the works of the kings of Egypt, the 
pyramids not excepted. The ancients describe it as 
measuring thirty-six hundred stadia in circumference, but 
modern travelers assure us that its breadth does not exceed 
half a league, that it is about a day's journey in length, 
and that its circumference is about twelve or fifteen 
leagues, which will be found sufficiently prodigious when 
we consider that it was done by human labor. This lake 
in the deepest part has fifty fathoms of water, and is fed 
from the Nile by means of a channel cut for that purpose. 
It was built by a king of the name of Mceris, whose ob- 
ject was to correct the irregularity of supply in the waters 
of the Nile, receiving its superabundance or making up 
its deficiency. 

The Leaning Tower at Pisa is by some considered 
as among the seven wonders of the world. It is a bell- 
tower, in whose top hangs a chime of ancient bells. This 
tower is seven hundred years old, and one hundred and 
eighty feet high. It appears much higher, standing, as it 
does, alone, with nothing to detract from its height. It 
is an airy structure, built of marble. It consists of eight 
stories, each of which is supported by beautiful fluted 
columns with Corinthian capitals. It leans over thirteen 
feet out of the perpendicular, but whether originally built 
so or whether one of its sides settled there is no record 
to establish. There is a dark, winding staircase within 
that leads to the top, where the bravest cannot walk to 
the outer edge of the leaning side and look over, so sure 
is one that the tower is falling. 

42. Fanny Kemble. — What English actress has some 
reputation as a poet ? Ans. Fanny Kemble. 

Frances Anne Kemble was born in 181 1. and is the 



WHAT? 301 



elder daughter of Charles Kemble, and a niece of Mrs. 
Siddons. Her career as an actress was one of great fame 
for some years, but she retired from the stage and gave 
Shaksperean "Readings," which were brilliantly success- 
ful. When quite young she produced two dramas, "Fran- 
cis the First" and the "Star of Seville." She married 
Pierce Butler, a Southern planter, but was divorced from 
him and resumed her maiden name. She wrote " A Jour- 
nal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation," in which 
she laid bare some of the horrors of slavery, as seen on 
her husband's "model plantation." 

43. Sparta. — What city of Greece was famed for its 
juvenile submission ? Ans. Sparta. 

Sparta was also called Lacedaemon, and was built upon 
the banks of the river Eurotas, and at the foot of Mount 
Taygetus. It was the capital of the province of Laconia, 
and is supposed to have been founded by Lelex 15 16 
years B.C., but took the name of Lacedsemon from its 
fourth king. The king's wife was named Sparta, and as 
she was the great-granddaughter of Lelex, they seemed 
to have compromised and given at last her name to the 
city. Sparta was of a circular form, some six miles in 
circumference. The houses were not built close together 
but divided into different villages, as was the custom with 
the ancient Greeks. There were five villages built round 
an eminence, at regular distances, each of which was oc- 
cupied by one of the five tribes of Sparta. The prevail- 
ing manners were hostile to external splendor, and there- 
fore the houses of the Spartans were destitute of elegance. 
They were very rigid in their laws and in the obeying 
of them. Lycurgus, by his peculiar institutions, raised 
Sparta from a weak and distracted state to superiority in 
arms over the other republics of Greece. His sole object 
was to render them fit for war. Theft was a part of the 
Spartan education. Detection exposed them to punish- 
ment. Plutarch tells us of a boy who had stolen a fox 
and hidden it under his coat, and who chose rather to let 
the animal eat out his bowels than to have the theft dis- 
covered. The great Square, or Forum, in the city, in 
which several streets terminated, was embellished by tem- 
ples and statues. It also contained the public edifices, in 

26 



302 



WHAT? 



which the assemblies of the various bodies of magistrates 
were held. Sparta was also adorned with a large number 
of monuments, in honor of the gods and ancient heroes. 
In the environs of the city were courses for horse- and 
foot-races, and places of exercise for the youth shaded 
by beautiful plane-trees. Indeed, Sparta was surrounded, 
to a great extent, with vineyards, olive- and plane-trees, 
gardens, and summer-houses. The inhabitants ate to- 
gether at public tables, the rich with the poor, and the 
very plainest food was furnished, the most of it being 
black broth. The kings, magistrates, and citizens were 
but little distinguished by external appearances. The 
military costume was of a red color. 

44. Robert Burns. — What poet lived on the Ayr? 
Ans. Robert Burns. 

Robert Burns was born in a clay-built cottage in Ayr- 
shire, two miles south of Ayr, not far from Alloway Kirk 
and the banks of the Doon, Scotland, January 25, 1759. 
His father was a small farmer, and Robert had no advan- 
tages of an education except what the parish schools 
afforded. His parents were discreet, virtuous, and pious, 
and did much towards trying to instill the right precepts 
into his heart. He early showed a strong taste for read- 
ing, and to the common rudiments of education he added 
some knowledge of mensuration and a smattering of Latin 
and French. A little before his sixteenth .year he says 
he "first committed the sin of rhyming." Burns inher- 
ited from his father an irritable and melancholy tempera- 
ment, which frequently brought him to the verge of 
insanity. This disposition led him to those occasional ex- 
cesses that marked his early manhood, and which occurred 
so frequently in his latter years as to make his life miser- 
able. His verses soon acquired him considerable village 
fame, to which, as he made acquaintances in Ayr and 
other neighboring towns with young men of his own age, 
he greatly added by the remarkable fluency of his expres- 
sion and the vigor of his conversational powers. The 
charms of these social meetings, at which he shone with 
so much distinction, gradually introduced him to those 
pernicious habits which ruin both the love of virtue and 
sobriety in a man. Burns seems always to have been 



WHA T? 



3°3 



under the influence of a tender passion for some pretty- 
face, and we read of him at Lochlea making love to all 
the beauties of the place. In his nineteenth year he was 
sent to Kirkoswald Parish School. He boarded with an 
uncle and made great progress in his studies. Here it 
was, among the rough old farmers, that Burns first learned 
to mingle in a drunken squabble, and was introduced to 
a freedom of life and conversation unknown before. Su- 
perstition flourished here in unabated strength ; and in 
Douglas Graham and his wife Helen McTaggart, noto- 
rious for her superstitious beliefs and fears, he became 
acquainted with Tarn O'Shanter and his " ain wife Kate," 
of whom he made such excellent use afterwards. As he 
had a head already filled with old tales and legends from 
Jenny Wilson, an aged woman who resided in his father's 
family, and who used to entertain him and his young 
brothers and sisters with stories concerning devils, ghosts, 
fairies, brownies, and witches, the soil was ripe for all 
such seed as chanced to blow that way. Some of these 
always clung to him, so that he says, late in life, in some 
of his nocturnal rambles he would keep a sharp look-out 
on suspicious places. On the 13th of February, 1784, 
Burns's father died at Lochlea, leaving the support of the 
family to Robert and his younger brother Gilbert. They 
leased the unplying farm of Mossgiel, in the neighbor- 
ing parish of Mauchline. The poet commenced his new 
career with a firm resolution to succeed, if success were 
attainable by strict devotion to the duties that lay before 
him. But bad seed the first year, and a late harvest the 
second, lost him half his crops, made him feel completely 
discouraged, and .he concluded to give up farming and 
take to his muse. Here, in about fifteen months, he 
composed the bulk of those remarkable poems which have 
made him the chief of the peasant poets of Scotland. 
His " Highland Mary" having died (see 173 in "Who?") 
he gave his heart to Jean Armour. Poor Jean " loved not 
wisely, but too well," and had three children before Burns 
married her. After the birth of the first child, to miti- 
gate scandal and to make such immediate reparation as 
was possible, the poet gave Jean a written acknowledg- 
ment of a private marriage, which, in Scotland, entitles 



3°4 



WHA T? 



the holder to all the legal privileges of a wife. But as 
his circumstances were known to be straitened and his 
character suspected, father Armour compelled his daugh- 
ter to return the paper in order to render the marriage 
null. Burns offered to proceed to Jamaica in hopes of 
bettering his fortunes, and then return to claim his wife ; 
he even proposed to become a day-laborer at home to 
support Jean and her expected offspring, but old Armour 
was relentless, and Jean, naturally weak and of feeble 
resolution, yielded to paternal threats. This resolution 
made him determined to sail for the West Indies. In 
order to raise money for his outfit and passage he con- 
cluded to publish his poems by subscription. He had 
subscriptions for about three hundred and fifty copies and 
had six hundred printed. They were received with great 
favor, and he cleared twenty pounds. With this he en- 
gaged his passage, and his chest was on the way to Green- 
ock, the port from which he was to sail, and he had bid 
adieu to his friends, when a letter from Dr. Blacklock 
came to one of Burns's friends saying he thought that if 
the poet would come to Edinburgh he would be able 
to put out a second edition of his poems. This so de- 
lighted Burns that off he started for Edinburgh, without 
a single letter of introduction or a single acquaintance in 
the great Scotch capital. The brilliant conversational 
powers of the unlettered plowman seem to have struck all 
with whom he came in contact, and he was soon intro- 
duced to the leading men of literature, rank, and fashion. 
Under the patronage of Professor Dugald Stewart, Mr. 
Henry Mackenzie, and Dr. Robertson a new edition of 
his poems was published, which gave him nearly five hun-' 
dred pounds. There were fifteen hundred subscribers to 
this second edition, and they engaged two thousand eight 
hundred copies. His fame was in every mouth, and he 
was feted to such an extent that had he been other than 
the simple, unostentatious man he was his head would 
have been completely turned. After an absence of six 
months, during which time he had traveled through most 
of Scotland, he returned to Mauchline on the 9th of June, 
1787, and entered Mossgiel famous; he who such a short 
time before was poor and friendless, dreading lest he 



WHA T? 



3°5 



should land in jail, so severe had Mr. Armour been with 
him. In the previous September Jean had given birth to 
twins, a boy and girl. The Burns' had taken the boy 
to raise, so Robert soon called on the Armours to see his 
daughter. This time he found them only too well pleased 
to see him, and their servility stirred his bile and pro- 
voked his misanthropy. His prospects were still uncer- 
tain, farming he was afraid to risk, and he still enter- 
tained the idea, as a last resort, to try Jamaica. He 
appears to have had strange forebodings of the future 
which so surely overtook him. He remained at home 
some two months, when he again went to Edinburgh to 
make a settlement with his publisher, Creech. On this 
second visit he met Mrs. McLehose, the " Clarinda" of 
his poems, to whom he made love most furiously for a 
time. Her maiden name was Agnes Craig; her husband 
was in the West Indies, and she became so much attached 
to Burns that she never forgot him, saying, when she was 
some eighty years old, that she hoped to meet him in 
heaven. During Burns's absence he learned that Jean 
was again to become a mother, and that her father had 
turned her out of his house. Poor Burns was sorely dis- 
tressed at this news, and he immediately wrote to a friend 
to procure a shelter for her. Again she had twins, both 
daughters, who died a few days after their birth. On the 
5th of August, 1788, Robert Burns and Jean Armour were 
publicly declared man and wife by the Church, and took 
up their abode at Dumfriesshire, where he prepared to 
stock a farm for himself. This did not prosper, and he 
obtained the office of exciseman in the district where he 
lived. In 1791 he abandoned the farm entirely and took 
a small house in the town of Dumfries. By this time his 
habits of conviviality had settled down to confirmed in- 
temperance, and at last, crippled, emaciated, having the 
very power of animation wasted by disease, quite broken- 
hearted by the sense of his errors and of the hopeless 
miseries to which he saw himself and his family depressed, 
he died at Dumfries on the 21st of July, 1796, only thirty- 
seven years of age. At the time of his death Burns's 
bonnie Jean was confined to her bed in the adjoining 
room, expecting hourly to give birth to " two more little 

26* 



3 o6 WHAT? 



feet to tread the thorny way," and while he lay in his 
coffin, with beautiful flowers surrounding him, the dear 
heart to whom Burns ever turned was being wrung with 
pain and anguish, not alone for the new life, but for the 
old that was leaving her. Burns was buried on the banks 
of his "bonnie Doon," where now arises a superb monu- 
ment to his memory, and his country took charge of his 
Jean and his children, whom he had loved so well. There 
are many pilgrimages to Alloway's auld haunted kirk, to 
the humble cottage where he was born, and to the banks 
and braes o' bonnie Doon, made by people from all lands 
and all nations. 

45. Pearls. — What two famous pearls are mentioned 
in history? Ans. Cleopatra's ear-rings, worth eight hun- 
dred thousand dollars, and the one that Julius Caesar pre- 
sented to Servilia, worth twenty-four thousand dollars. 

46. Lotos- Eater. — What does it mean? Ans. A 
pleasure-seeker.- 

47. Rubens. — Of what painter was it asked, " Does 
he mix blood with his colors ?" A?is. Guido asked it of 
Peter Paul Rubens. 

1 . Guido Reni, or as he is known more widely, Guido, 
was born at Bologna, in 1575. His father was a musician, 
and the son was intended for the same profession, but 
evincing a decided taste for the easel was placed in the 
school of the Carracci, at Bologna. He went with Anni- 
bale Carracci to Rome, where he remained some twenty 
years. He was kindly received in Rome, and had many 
favors shown him, but taking umbrage at some supposed 
offense, he left the city, returning to Bologna, where he 
opened a large and flourishing school. Guido made great 
sums of money, which would have easily allowed him to 
live in the style he coveted, but his gambling and extrava- 
gant habits kept him always in debt, and obliged him to 
tax his genius to the utmost, and sell his pictures for what 
they would bring, and not for what they were worth. He 
died at Bologna, and was buried with much pomp in the 
church of San Dominici, 1642. We are told he had 
three styles : one after the vigorous manner of Michael 
Angelo ; the second in the ornamental taste of the Rome 
of his day and the Carracci ; this is considered his best 



WHAT? 307 



style, and is distinguished by its subtle management of 
light and shade. His third was called his " silvery style," 
from its grays. This is thought to degenerate into insi- 
pidity, and with little wonder, as at this stage of his 
career he sold his time at so much per hour to picture- 
dealers, who stood over him, watch in hand, to see that 
he fulfilled his bargain. These venders carried his saints 
wet from the easel. He was sometimes less than three 
hours at the creation of a beautiful Virgin. He painted 
few portraits, but many fancy heads of saints. Nearly 
three hundred of his pictures are believed to be in exist- 
ence. His charges rose from five guineas for a head, and 
twenty guineas for a whole figure, to twenty times that 
amount. Guido had a refined sense of beauty, but it was 
overruled by a cold calculation, and developed into a 
mere abstract conception of empty grace, without heart 
or soul. His finest work is the large painting of "Phoebus 
and Aurora," in a pavilion of the Rospigliosi Palace, at 
Rome. In the London National Gallery are nine speci- 
men of Guido's work, including one of his best " Ecce 
Homos," which belonged to the collection of Samuel 
Rogers. His "Beatrice de Cenci" is in the Barberini 
Palace, in Rome. 

2. Peter Paul Rubens was born at Siegen, in West- 
phalia, on the day of St. Peter and St. Paul, 1577. But 
though Rubens was born out of Antwerp, he was a citizen 
of that city by descent as well as by so many later associa- 
tions. His father, John Rubens, was a lawyer, and an 
imprudent, thriftless man in character and habits, who had 
been compelled to leave Antwerp in consequence of some 
religious disturbances. Rubens passed his early boyhood 
at Cologne, but on the death of his father, when he was 
ten years of age, his mother, a good, " discreet" woman, 
to whom the painter owed much, and confessed his debt, 
returned with her family to her old home in Antwerp. 
The mother destined him for his father's profession, but 
seeing his strong preference for art, did not oppose him. 
After studying under two different artists, and becoming 
a master in the guild of St. Luke, Rubens went to Italy 
in 1600, when in his twenty-third year. He was absent 
eight years, entering in the service of the ducal sovereign 



3 o8 WHAT? 



of Mantua, being sent by him on a diplomatic mission to 
Madrid to Philip III. of Spain, visiting on his own ac- 
count Rome, where he met the two brothers and cousin 
Carracci, and Guido, at the height of their fame, then to 
Venice and Genoa, leaving portraits wherever he went. 
With Genoa, its architecture, and its situation Rubens 
was greatly charmed, but he quitted it in haste, being sum- 
moned home by the death of his loved mother, whom he 
had not seen during his eight years' absence. He was a 
man of strong feelings in sorrow and in joy, and when 
this grief came to him he withdrew from the world, and 
resided in a religious house during his season of mourning. 
Loving Italy with a painter's enthusiasm, he had intended 
to return and settle in Mantua, but having been named 
court painter to the Governess of the Netherlands, Clara 
Eugenia, and her husband Albert, Rubens had sufficient pa- 
triotism and worldly foresight to induce him to relinquish 
this idea, and instead, establish himself in his native Ant- 
werp. He was already a man of eminence in his profes- 
sion, and a man of mark out of it. Go where he would 
he made friends, and he so recommended himself to his 
royal patrons by his natural suavity, tact, and sagacity, 
that he was not only in the utmost favor with them as a 
courtly painter, but was employed by them once and again 
on difficult, delicate, and private embassies. It was not 
alone to his patrons that this gifted man was endeared, he 
was emphatically what men call a "good fellow," alike to 
superiors, equals, and inferiors. Rubens was a frank, 
honest, bountiful, and generous man. He was twice 
married, the first time, a year after his mother's death, 
when in his thirty-third year, to Elizabeth Brant, or, as 
she is called by some, Isabella, which is the Spanish for 
Elizabeth, a relative of his own, as was his second wife. 
Elizabeth Brant lived with him seventeen years, when 
she peacefully passed away in 1626. Rubens married 
Helena Fourment four years later, when he was a man of 
fifty-four years, and she a young girl of sixteen. Both of 
his wives were handsome, fair, full-formed Flemish beau- 
ties. Elizabeth Brant's beauty was of a finer order than 
that of Helena, expressing larger capacity of affection 
and intellect. Nevertheless Rubens idolized Helena, — 



WHA T? 



3°9 



while to Elizabeth he was only deeply attached. He has 
painted them so often, that the face of no painter's wife 
is so familiar to the art-world, and even to the greater 
world without, as are the faces of these two women, and 
above all that of Helena Fourment.. He had seven 
children, who frequently figure in their mothers' portraits. 
He has left notable portraits of his two sons by his first 
wife, of his eldest daughter, Clara Eugenia, when eight 
years of age, and of his daughter Elizabeth, a buxom baby 
dressed in velvet and point lace, playing with toys. Ru- 
bens built and painted, in fresco, a fine house in Antwerp, 
and laid out a pleasant garden, which contained a rotunda, 
filled with a choice collection of pictures by the Italian 
masters, antique gems, and curiosities gathered abroad. 
He set himself to keep house in a liberal fashion, to dis- 
pense benefits, and entertain friends, — above all, to paint 
with might and main in company with his Flemish school, 
who were for the most part Rubens's devoted comrades. 
Counting his work not only as the great object, but as the 
great zest of his life, never did artist receive such sweeping 
and accumulating commissions, and never, even by Tinto- 
retto, were commissions executed with such undaunted, un- 
hesitating expedition. Notwithstanding his diligence, he 
frequently left his studio and went abroad, either to act 
as an unofficial ambassador or to paint at the special re- 
quest of some foreign sovereign. In 1620 we find him 
in Paris planning for Marie de Medici the series of re- 
markable pictures which commemorated her marriage with 
Henry IV. Eight years later he was in Spain on a mis- 
sion from his sovereign to her kinsman, Philip IV.; in 
the following year he was in England, on a service of a 
similar description to Charles I., from whom he received 
the honor of knighthood, as he had already received it 
from Philip of Spain. After a life of unbroken success 
and the highest honors, the last distinction conferred on 
Rubens was, that he was chosen to arrange the gala, and 
to be the right-hand man who should conduct the Cardinal 
Infant, the successor of Clara Eugenia, on his first en- 
trance into Antwerp. But the hand of premature disease 
and death was already on the great painter. His consti- 
tution had been undermined by repeated attacks of gout, 



3io 



WHAT? 



and he died at the age of sixty-seven, in 1640. He left 
an immense estate, and only a part of his collection which 
was then sold brought what was in those days a large sum, 
twenty thousand pounds. Rubens's portrait is even better 
known than those of his wives, as, like Raphael's, his life 
is the beau ideal of a painter to the many. The portrait 
is worthy the man, with something gallant in the manli- 
ness, and with thought tempering what might have been 
too much of bravado and too much of debonnaireU in 
the traits. His features are handsome in their Flemish 
fullness, and match well with hazel eyes, chestnut hair, 
and a ruddy complexion. His long moustache is turned 
up, and he wears a pointed beard. The great flapping 
hat worn alike by men and women, slightly cocked to one 
side, is the perfection of picturesque head-gear. In per- 
fect keeping with the hat, and not in the least effeminate 
on a man like Rubens, is the falling collar of pointed 
Mechlin, just seen above the cloak draped in large folds. 
In his own day Rubens was without a rival as a painter. 
His excellence lay in his execution and coloring. It is 
said of him that his noblest, and even sacred characters, 
were but big, brawny, red and white Flemings. Rubens's 
geniality bordered on joviality, and he debased his genius 
by some foul and revolting pictures. Nearly four thousand 
paintings and sketches are attributed to Rubens and his 
scholars. It would be more than wonderful if among this 
number there were not only poor ones, but some that were 
not chaste. Many are still at Antwerp, also at Madrid, 
but most are at Munich, where in one great saloon and 
cabinet there are ninety-five pictures by Rubens. In Eng- 
land, at Blenheim, there are fifteen of his paintings, as the 
royal Duchess of Marlborough would give any price for 
his works. His "Descent from the Cross" is one of his 
largest pictures. "The Assumption of the Virgin," at 
Antwerp, he is said to have gotten sixteen hundred florins 
for, and to have painted it in sixteen days. His usual 
terms were a hundred florins a day. "The Virgin and 
Serpent" is in the Munich gallery. Among his most 
famous mythological pictures is the "Battle of the Ama- 
zons," also at Munich. This is the only battle-piece that 
can compare with Raphael's "Battle of Constantine." 



WHAT? 3II 



Another famous picture is the " Carrying off of Proser- 
pina." Pluto in his car is driven by fiery brown steeds, 
and is bearing away the goddess, resisting and struggling. 
The picture absolutely glows with genial fire. The forms 
are more slender than is general with Rubens ; the figure 
of Diana is conspicuous for grace and beauty. The vic- 
torious god of love hovers before the chariot, and the blue 
ocean, warmly tinted with the sunbeams, forms a splendid 
background. Rubens was famous for the loveliness and 
grace of his paintings of children. Perhaps the most 
beautiful is that of "The Infant Jesus and John playing 
with a lamb." He was also a great animal painter, and 
one of his celebrated animal pictures is "Daniel in the 
Lions' Den," now at Hamilton Palace, in which each 
lion is a king of beasts checked in his fiercest wrath. It 
is said to have been painted by Rubens in a fit of pique at 
a false report which had been circulated that he could not 
paint animals, and that those in his pictures were supplied 
by the animal painter, his friend and scholar, Schneyders. 
For his portrait of the "Straw Hat," see 65 in "What?" 
He painted a picture of the great Arundel family, which 
as an English family picture ranks second with any they 
have. Among his other masterpieces are "The Rape of 
the Sabines" and the landscape "Autumn," which has a 
view of his country chateau, De Stein, near Mechlin. In 
the Dulwich gallery there is an interesting portrait by 
Rubens of an elderly lady in a great Spanish ruff, which is 
believed to be a portrait of his mother. 

48. Greece. — What was it called by the natives? Ans. 
Hellas. 

49. American Poets. — What American poets have 
been clergymen? Ans. Pierpont, Coxe, and Doane. 

1. John G. Pierpont.— (See 61 in "Who?") 

2. A. Cleveland Coxe is the son of Rev. Samuel H. 
Coxe, D.D., and Abiah Hyde Cleveland, and was born in 
Mendham, New Jersey, May 10, 1818. He graduated at 
the New York City University with honorable distinction 
in 1838. While a student, in 1837, he published "Ad- 
vent, a Mystery; and other Poems." After leaving the 
university he studied theology, and in 1841 was ordained 
deacon, settled in Westchester, New York, and was mar- 



3 T2 WHAT? 



ried to Catharine Hyde, of Brooklyn. In 1S42 be ac- 
cepted the rectorship of St. John's Church, Hartford. In 
1 85 1 he went to England, where he received great atten- 
tion from many eminent scholars and the highest digni- 
taries of the English Church, the fame of his " Christian 
Ballads" having preceded him. In 1854 he was elected 
rector of Grace Church, Baltimore, where he continued 
many years. His principal works are his " Christian Bal- 
lads," "Halloween, and other Poems," "Saul, a Mys- 
tery," and his " Impressions of England." He is now 
Bishop of the Western Diocese of New York. 

3. George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D., 
Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the Diocese of New 
Jersey, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on the 27th of 
May, 1799. At the age of nineteen he graduated at 
Union College, and soon after commenced the study of 
theology. For four years he was assistant clergyman in 
Trinity Church, New York, and in 1824 was appointed 
Professor of Belles-Lettres and Oratory in Washington 
College, Hartford, Connecticut. This chair he resigned 
in 1828, and accepted a call to Trinity Church, Boston, as 
an assistant clergyman. The next year he was married to 
Mrs. Eliza Green Perkins, and in 1830 was elected rector 
of Trinity Church, Boston. On the 31st of October, 
1832, he was consecrated Bishop of the Church of New 
Jersey, and the next year became rector of St. Mary's 
Church, Burlington. In 1837 he founded St. Mary's 
Hall, Burlington, a school for young ladies, and in 1846 
Burlington College, both of which are highly nourishing. 
He died at his home in Burlington, April 26, 1859. In 
1824 appeared a volume of poems by him entitled "Songs 
by the Way, Chiefly Devotional." He published during 
his life sermons, charges, and literary addresses, but no 
large work on any one particular subject. He was deeply 
interested in the subject of education, and amidst all his 
parochial duties, which were many and arduous, he found 
time to devote much thought and attention to it. 

50. Social War. — What was thus called ? Ans. The 
Romans, 91 B.C., fell into a contention with the allied 
states of Italy, because these states wished to obtain the 
rights of citizenship. The war ended with an allowance 



WHAT? 3 T3 



of those rights to such of the allies as should return to 
their allegiance. It cost the lives of three hundred thou- 
sand of the flower of Italy, and was conducted on both 
sides. by the ablest generals. 

51. Bayard Taylor. — What young American author 
made the tour of Europe on foot? Ans. Bayard Taylor. 

Bayard Taylor, whose ancestors emigrated with William 
Penn, was born in Kennet Square, Chester County, Penn- 
sylvania, on the nth of January, 1825. At the age of 
seventeen he became an apprentice in a printing-office in 
West Chester, devoting his leisure time to the study of 
Latin and French, and writing poetry for the " New York 
Mirror" and "Graham's Magazine." These poems were 
collected and, in 1844, published. With the proceeds of 
this, and some advancements made to him by the proprie- 
tors of two or three leading journals, in consideration of 
letters to be furnished, he commenced that year a series 
of travels which, continued up to the present time, has 
made him the greatest traveler for his years that ever 
lived. Having passed two years in Great Britain, Ger- 
many, France, Switzerland, and Italy, he returned home 
and published an account of his travels, under the title of 
" Views Afoot," which was very favorably received. He 
settled in New York, and in 1848 became connected with 
the "Tribune" as a permanent contributor, and shortly 
after published " Rhymes of Travel." In 1849 he visited 
California, and returned by way of Mexico, giving an ac- 
count of his travels in the " Tribune," of which he had 
now become an associate editor. In 1851 he set out on 
his Eastern tour, by way of England, Germany, and Italy, 
and reached Cairo in November. From here he went to 
Central Africa, and after penetrating to the negro king- 
doms of the White Nile, returned to Cairo in April of the 
following year. Taking a fresh start northward, through 
Palestine and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, and after 
visiting some of the islands of the Mediterranean, he re- 
turned to England through Germany. In October, 1852, 
he left England by the overland route for Bombay, and 
after traveling more than two thousand miles in the inte- 
rior of India reached Calcutta on the 22d of February. 
Thence he embarked for Hong-Kong; and when Com- 
o 27 



314 



WHAT? 



modore Perry's squadron arrived at Shanghai, he entered 
the naval service in order to accompany it to the Loo- 
Choo and the Japan Islands, which he explored. Decem- 
ber, 1853, saw him back in New York, having been absent 
two years, and traveled more than fifty thousand miles. 
His works are "A Journey to Central Africa," "The 
Lands of the Saracens," "India," "China and Japan," 
"Poems of the Orient," "Poems of Home and Travel," 
etc. In 1856 Taylor started on a fourth journey, during 
which he visited Sweden, Lapland, Norway, Dalmatia, 
Greece, Crete, and Russia. Not being content with 
poetry and history, he has tried the field of fiction, and 
that he has reaped a rich harvest here also, his charming 
novel of " Hannah Thurston" will testify. 

52. Milan Cathedral. — What celebrated cathedral 
has ten thousand statues ? Ans. The cathedral at Milan, 
in Italy. 

Wherever you stand in Milan, or within seven miles of 
Milan, this noble cathedral is the main object of one's 
admiration. Everything about the great church is marble, 
and all from the same quarry, which was bequeathed to 
the Archbishopric for this purpose centuries ago. Noth- 
ing but the mere workmanship costs, yet that is said to 
have summed up considerably over a hundred millions of 
dollars. It is estimated that it will take a hundred and 
twenty years' more labor to complete it. It looks com- 
plete, but it is far from being so. There are four stair- 
cases leading up to the main steeple, each of which cost a 
hundred thousand dollars, with the four hundred and 
eight statues which adorn them. Marco Compioni was 
the architect who designed the wonderful structure more 
than five hundred years ago, and it took him forty-six 
years to work out the plan and get it ready to hand over 
to the builders. The central one of its five great doors is 
bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits and beasts 
and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out of 
the marble that they seem like living creatures, and the 
figures are so numerous and the design so complex, that 
one might study it for weeks and not exhaust its interest. 
On the great steeple, surmounting the myriad of spires, 



WHA 77 



315 



inside of the spires, over the doors, the windows, in 
nooks and corners, everywhere that a niche or a perch 
can be found about the enormous building, from summit 
to base, there is a marble statue, and every statue is a study 
in itself. Raphael, Angelo, Canova, these are the men 
who gave birth to the designs, and their own pupils car- 
ried them out. Every face is eloquent with expression, 
and every attitude is full of grace. On the lofty roof 
rank on rank of carved and fretted spires spring high in 
the air, and through their rich tracery one sees the sky 
beyond. From the eaves to the comb of the roof stretch 
in endless succession great curved marble beams, and 
along each beam from end to end stand up a row of 
richly-carved flowers and fruit, each separate and distinct 
in kind, and over fifteen thousand species represented. 
Under the grand altar is the crypt, where many of Italy's 
illustrious dead are buried. The cathedral is five hundred 
feet long by one hundred and eighty feet wide, and the 
principal steeple is in the neighborhood of four hundred 
feet high. Besides the ten thousand statues that this 
church holds, it has one thousand five hundred bas-re- 
liefs. It has one hundred and thirty-six spires, and 
twenty-one more are to be added. Every spire is sur- 
mounted by a statue six and a half feet high. The build- 
ing looks best by moonlight, because the older portions 
being stained with age contrast unpleasantly with the 
newer and whiter portions. It is only second to St. 
Peter's at Rome. 

53. "The Signet." — What position does "A writer 
of the Signet" hold? Ans. The " Signet" is one of the 
king's seals, used in sealing his private letters and all 
grants signed under his hands. It is always in the keep- 
ing of the secretaries of state. "A writer of the Sig- 
net" is, therefore, one who holds an office in the depart- 
ment of state. Sir Walter Scott's father was " A writer 
of the Signet." 

54. Twelve Labors of Hercules. — What were 
they? Ans. 1. Cleaning the Augean Stables. 

2. Killing the Erymanthian Boar. 

3. Killing the Nemaean Lion. 



316 



WHA T? 



4. Destroying the Lernsean Hydra. 

5. Driving the dog Cerberus from the Infernal Re- 
gions. 

6. Capturing the golden-horned Stag consecrated to 
Diana. 

7. Killing the Carnivorous Birds of Arcadia. 

8. Taking the Wild Bull of Crete. 

9. Obtaining the Horses of Diomedes which preyed 
upon men. 

10. Taking a girdle from Hippolyte, Queen of the 
Amazons. 

11. Killing Geryon, King of Gades, in Spain/ 

12. Obtaining Golden Apples from the Garden of the 
Hesperides. 

Hercules was the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, and 
when a baby in the cradle strangled two enormous ser- 
pents that Juno had sent to destroy him. Hercules was 
destined to conquer monsters, to subdue tyrants, and to 
set bounds to the injustice of his father, Jupiter, by de- 
livering Prometheus from the rock to which he was 
chained, where he was still suffering for the benefits which 
he had conferred upon mankind. Hercules's mother was 
a mortal, and it was only after the performance of his 
twelve labors that he could receive the crown of immor- 
tality. To accomplish these designs, the gods completely 
armed him. Minerva presented him with a coat of arms 
and a helmet ; Mercury gave him a sword ; Neptune sent 
him a horse ; Jupiter a shield ; Apollo a bow and arrow; 
and Vulcan a golden cuirass and a brazen buskin. Thus 
equipped, he accomplished the most powerful undertak- 
ings ever known. When quite a youth, two fascinating 
maidens appeared to Hercules, Luxury and Virtue, each 
begging him to follow her. Luxury promised him all the 
enjoyments of a cheerful, careless life, and Virtue told 
him she could only give him troubles and trials then, but 
afterwards glory and immortality, if he would choose her 
for his guide through life. Hercules sprang up with 
glowing cheeks, and told the fair Virtue that he would 
follow her, to her devote his life. 

55. Long Parliament. — What was it? Ans. That 
which assembled November 3, 1640, under Charles I. 



WHAT? 317 



of England, and was dismissed by Oliver Cromwell (see 
150 in " Who?") on the 20th of April, 1653. We can 
fancy that the autocratic old king did not dream that the 
man that his own tyranny kept from leaving the country 
would step in his royal sandals, and dismiss the Parliament 
which his proud ministers had convoked. 

56. Plutarch. — What Greek writer has given us the 
" Lives of Eminent Men" ? Ans. Plutarch. 

Plutarch was born in the reign of Claudius, about six 
years before that emperor's death, in a small town in 
Bceotia called Chseronea. Plutarch himself says that he 
studied philosophy under Ammonius, at Delphi, when 
Nero made his progress into Greece. Quite early in life, 
it is supposed, Plutarch married Timoxena, who was not 
only well-born and well-bred, but a woman of distin- 
guished sense and virtue. By her Plutarch had five chil- 
dren, four sons and a daughter, called after the mother. 
This little flower died in early infancy. The great phi- 
losopher was very happy in his married life, devoting his 
leisure hours to his children, and fully appreciating the 
great blessings that a good, sympathizing wife can bring 
to her husband. He traveled through Greece and Egypt 
in quest of knowledge, after which he retired to Rome, 
and opened a school with great reputation. Trajan, who 
admired his abilities, made him consul, and conferred the 
government of Illyricum upon him. After Trajan's death, 
Plutarch left Rome, returning for peace and quiet to the 
little town which had given him birth, and where he 
died at an advanced age, about 140 a.d. He composed 
the greater part of his works at Chaeronea. His " Lives 
of Eminent Men" is the most esteemed of his produc- 
tions. The major part of his compositions have been 
lost to us. His "Morals" are still extant, but little 
read in comparison to his "Lives." His precision and 
fidelity are remarkable, and when we remember that all 
he wrote is written from memory, — as was the way with 
the old Greeks and Romans, — without a single book of 
reference, it is astounding. Plutarch's style is energetic 
and animated, though distinguished neither for purity 
nor elegance. He is said to be the most entertaining 
and instructive writer of ancient history. 

27* 



3 i 8 WHAT, 



57. Tweed. — What author lived on this river ? Ans. 
Sir Walter Scott. (See 3 in " Who?") 

58. What great men died young ? Ans. Edgar 
A. Poe, Robert Burns, Winthrop Mackworth Praed,. Raph- 
ael, Mungo Park, Alexander the Great, Charles XII. of 
Sweden, Sir Philip Sidney, Charles Wolfe, George Ar- 
nold, Francis Beaumont, Joseph Rodman Drake, John 
Keats, Henry Kirke White, Herbert Knowles, Thomas 
Chatterton. 

1. Edgar Allen Poe was thirty-eight at the time of 
his death. (See 19 in " What?") 

2. Robert Burns was thirty-seven at the time of his 
death. (See 44 in " What ?) 

3. Winthrop Mackworth Praed was thirty-seven 
at the time of his death. Praed, the son of Mr. Sergeant 
Praed, was born in London in 1802, and sent to Eton 
School, where he gained high reputation for scholarship 
and poetic talent. In 1820 appeared a monthly magazine 
called " The Etonian," to which Praed was the principal 
contributor. From Eton he went to Trinity College, 
Cambridge, where he distinguished himself by his bril- 
liant talents, obtaining the highest prizes both for Greek 
odes and English poems. He was one of the chief 
speakers of the Cambridge Debating Society, called " The 
Union." Here his most formidable rival was Thomas 
Babington Macaulay, since so famous as a historian. In 
1829 Praed was admitted to the bar, and was, from 1830 
to 1835, twice elected to Parliament, where, in his speeches, 
he showed great readiness of debating power as well as 
keenness of wit. For a short time he was secretary to 
the "Board of Control," and had his life been spared, it 
is probable that some of the most important offices of state 
would have been within his reach. He died of consump- 
tion, on the 15th of July, 1839. Most of Praed's poetical 
pieces — and it is as a poet that we know him — were con- 
tributed to periodicals, but they have been collected and 
published in two volumes by W. J. Widdleton, New York. 

4. Raphael was thirty-seven at the time of his death. 
(See 23 in "What?") 

5. Mungo Park was thirty-five when he died. (See 
124m "What?") 



WHAT? 



3*9 



6. Alexander the Great was thirty-two when he died. 
(See 136 in "What?") 

7. Charles XII. of Sweden was thirty-two when he 
died, (See 166 in "Who?") 

8. Sir Philip Sidney was thirty-two when he died. 
He was born in 1554, and entered Oxford at the early age 
of thirteen. When only eighteen he left the university 
and commenced his travels abroad. He was in Paris at 
the time of the horrible Popish massacre of St. Bartholo- 
mew, on the night of the 22d of August, 1572, and with 
many others took refuge at the house of Sir Francis Wal- 
singham, at that time ambassador from England. After- 
wards, in 1583, he married Frances, the daughter of Sir 
Francis, and was knighted. He was a lover of Penelope, 
daughter of the Earl of Essex, but she was compelled to 
marry another. She was the "Stella" of his amatory 
poems. Leaving Paris soon after the massacre, he pur- 
sued his route through Germany and Italy, and returned 
to England in 1575. When little more than twenty-one 
he was sent by Elizabeth as ambassador to Vienna, where, 
though so young, he acquitted himself with great credit. 
In 1585 he was named as a candidate for the throne of 
Poland ; but his sense of the duty which he owed his 
country led him to submit gracefully to the remon- 
strance of "good Queen Bess," who did not choose to 
lose the brightest star in her kingdom. The United Prov- 
inces having previously declared their independence, Eng- 
land resolved to assist them in throwing off the yoke of 
Spain, and in 1586 Sidney was sent into the Netherlands, 
as general of the horse. On the 2 2d of September, in 
the same year, in a skirmish near Zutphen, the brave 
young soldier defeated a superior force of the enemy, but 
lost his life. After his horse had been shot under him, 
he mounted another, and continued to fight till he re- 
ceived his death-wound. While in the last agonies of 
death, being overcome with thirst from excessive bleed- 
ing, lie asked for water. It was brought immediately; 
but the moment he was lifting it to his mouth a poor 
soldier was carried by mortally wounded, who fixed his 
eager eyes longingly on the coveted water. Sidney see- 
ing this, with the unselfishness of his nature, instantly 



3 20 WHAT? 



delivered it to him, with these memorable words, " Thy 
necessity is yet greater than mine." All England wore 
mourning for his death, and volumes of laments and elegies 
were poured forth in all languages. He is said " to have 
delighted nations by the witchery of his powers, and 
courts by the fascinations of his address, leaving the 
learned astonished at his proficiency, and the ladies en- 
raptured with his grace ; and communicating wherever he 
went the spirit of love and gladness, he was, and well 
deserved to be, the idol of the age in which he lived." 
He wrote ''Arcadia" and "Defence of Poesie." 

9. Charles Wolfe was thirty-one when he died. He 
was an Irishman, born in Dublin on the 14th of Decem- 
ber, 1 791, and died on the 21st of February, 1823. He 
entered the University of Dublin, and immediately took 
a high rank for his classical attainments and his true poetic 
talents. The poem on which his fame chiefly rests is that 
which is so familiar to every school-child, the " Lines on 
the Burial of Sir John Moore," which begin, — 

" Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note." 

10. George Arnold was thirty-one at the time of his 
death. He was born in Bedford Street, New York City, 
on the 24th of June, 1834, and died at Strawberry Farm, 
Monmouth County, New Jersey, on the 9th of November, 
1865. Arnold was a poet and painter, but his health 
failed him, and he was obliged to give up his loved pur- 
suits. After his, death, a friend collected and had pub- 
lished his one volume of poems, which gave promise of a 
golden harvest had he been spared. 

11. Francis Beaumont was thirty at his death. He 
was born in Leicestershire, England, and was the son of 
a judge. He studied at Oxford, and thence passed to the 
Inner Temple ; but the law had few charms for him, and 
in conjunction with his friend Fletcher he devoted his 
short life to the drama, and died in 1616. Beaumont and 
Fletcher were so united in friendship and confederate 
genius that they are nearly always spoken of together. 
They wrote together, their works were published to- 
gether, so it is impossible almost to separate them. Their 
plays — fifty-two in number — consist of tragedies, com- 
edies, and mixed pieces. Of these, fifty were written in 



WHA 77 



321 



the eighteen years which elapsed between 1607 and 1625. 
Beaumont was not obliged to use the pen, being what is 
termed " well off in this world's goods." He was mar- 
ried two years before he died. 

12. Joseph Rodman Drake was twenty-five when 
he died. (See 101 in "Who?") 

13. John Keats was twenty-five when he died. (See 
77 in "What?") 

14. Henry Kirke White was twenty-one when he 
died. (See 106 in "What?") 

15. Herbert Knowles was nineteen when he died. 
This most promising youth was born in Canterbury, Eng- 
land, in 1798. He early lost both parents, but a good 
friend found him, and sent him to Richmond School. The 
friend was Dr. Andrews, Dean of Canterbury. His new 
friends designed to send him to the university, and ac- 
cordingly they endeavored to raise the means. Southey 
was applied to, and procured at once pledges for thirty 
pounds a year for four years : he himself, with his usual gen- 
erosity, giving one-third of it. But, alas ! as in the case of 
Henry Kirke White, the fair promise which high principle, 
talent, and good sense combined seemed to hold forth, was 
blighted in the bud, for in little more than' two months 
after he received the news of what his friends had done to 
aid him he was laid in his grave, — in 181 7. His "Lines 
Written in a Church-Yard of Richmond, Yorkshire," when 
only a school- boy, prove that he early gave fruits of a 
wonderful genius. 

16. Thomas Chatterton was seventeen when he 
died. (See 2 in "What?") 

59. Shakspeare. — What poet was a wool-gatherer? 
Ans. Shakspeare. (See 1 in "Who?") 

60. The Nameless City. — What city was called by 
this name, and why ? Ans. Rome ; because it had an 
older and more mysterious name, which it was death to 
pronounce. This name was Valentia. 

61. Ben Jonson. — What great man was drawn while 
drunk through the streets of Paris? Ans. Ben Jonson. 
(See 18 in "Who?") 

62. Ganges. — What river is sacred to the Hindoos? 
Ans. The Ganges, in India, 

o* 



322 WHAT? 



63. Japan. — What nation made their irregular and 
grotesque coins with the use of the hammer only ? Ans. 
Japan. 

64. What three celebrated men died on the 23d of 
April? Ans. Shakspeare, Cervantes, Wordsworth; also 
Thomas Tiekell, who was the bosom friend of Addison. 

1. Shakspeare. (See 1 in " Who?") 

2. Cervantes. (See 64 in " Who?") 

3. Wordsworth. (See 57 in "Who?") 

65. Portraits. — What four surpassingly beautiful por- 
traits of women were painted in succession by four great 
artists? Ans. Leonardo painted "La Joconde" ; Ra- 
phael, " Fornarina" ; Titian, "Bella Donna"; and Ru- 
bens, the "Straw Hat." 

1. " La Joconde." — Leonardo painted the portrait 
of Mona Liza, the wife of his friend Giocondo, and called 
it "La Joconde." This picture is now in the Louvre, in 
an utterly ruined condition, yet we are told that " there 
is something in this wonderful head of the ripest southern 
beauty, with its airy background of a rocky landscape, 
which exercises a peculiar fascination over the mind." 
Leonardo worked at it at intervals for four years, and 
when he left it he pronounced it still unfinished. 

2. " Fornarina." — There are three " Fornarinas" of 
Raphael, two at Rome and one in Florence. There is a 
story that the original of the first two pictures was a girl 
of the people to whom Raphael was attached ; and there 
is this to be said for the tradition, that there is an ac- 
knowledged coarseness in the very beauty of the half- 
draped "Fornarina," or baker, of the Barberini Palace. 
The " Fornarina" of Florence is the portrait of a noble 
woman, holding trie fur trimming of her mantle with her 
right hand, and it is not thought that this picture can 
represent the same individual as that twice represented in 
Rome. 

3. "Bella Donna."— Titian's "Bella Donna" is a 
splendid, serious beauty, in a red and blue silk dress. It 
is in the Sciarra Gallery, in Rome. 

4. "Lady in the Straw Hat."— Rubens's "Lady 
in the Straw Hat" is supposed to be Mile. Lundens, the 
beauty of the seventeen provinces. She died young and 



WHAT? 



3 2 3 



unmarried. The picture is valued by connoisseurs on ac- 
count of the triumph of skill by which Rubens has painted 
brilliantly a face so much in the shade. There is a grace- 
ful, tender beauty in the whole picture, which must speak 
for itself to those who are not judges, we should think. 
This portrait originally belonged to Sir Robert Peel, who 
purchased it for three thousand pounds, but it now forms 
part of the fine collection in the National Gallery, Lon- 
don. (See 47 in "What?") 

66. Kotzebue. — What German poet was assassinated ? 
Ans. Kotzebue. 

August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue was a Ger- 
man dramatist, born in Weimar, May 3, 1761, and was 
assassinated in Mannheim, March 23, 1819. He studied 
in the Gymnasium of Weimar and the University of Jena. 
He married a daughter of Lieutenant-General von Eseen, 
and was appointed to a high judicial office in the province 
of Esthonia and was ennobled, which led him to write a 
fulsome work on nobility. His literary reputation was 
established by several successful novels, but was injured 
by the publication of subsequent works, in which he at- 
tacked the celebrated poets of Weimar, Goethe and Schil- 
ler, who had declined to admit him into their society. 
He devoted several years to writing a series of plays, till 
1790, when he succeeded Alexinger as poet to the court 
theatre at Vienna. In 1800 he returned to Russia, where 
he was suspected of having written pamphlets against the 
Emperor Paul, and was banished to Siberia. He was lib- 
erated for having written a play, "Der Liebkutcher Peters 
des Gromee" (Coachman of Peter the Great), which 
presented the emperor in a favorable light. Kotzebue 
resided alternately at Weimar and Mannheim, and con- 
ducted a weekly journal. He wrote letters to the Czar, 
and articles in which the secret political associations of 
the German students were held up to scorn and ridicule. 
This so incensed the students that one of them named 
Sand stabbed Kotzebue in the breast with a dagger, ex- 
claiming, "This is for you, traitor of your country !" 

67. Landscape Painters. — What celebrated artists 
were great landscape painters? Ans. Claude Lorrain, Wil-. 
liam Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, and Nicolas Poussin. 



3 2 4 



WHAT*. 



i. Claude Gele"e, or as he is better known, Claude 
Lorrain, from his being a native of Lorraine, was born 
at Chateau de Chamagne, in the Vosges, in 1600. His 
parents were in humble life, and apprenticed him to a 
baker and pastry-cook. He says he ran away to Rome, 
and soon entered the service of a landscape-painter of 
good repute, to whom he was color-boy, as well as cook. 
He passed most of his life in Rome, revisiting France 
once only, while yet under thirty years of age. At this 
time he is supposed to have painted his earliest pictures, 
and executed his etchings ; and fifteen years later, in 
1645, to have painted his best pictures, when he was in 
the maturity of his life and powers. He never amassed a 
fortune, not leaving more than two thousand pounds, 
although he was a successful artist in his day. Claude was 
a slow and careful painter, sometimes working two weeks 
on a picture with apparent little progress. He died in 
Rome in the eighty-third year of his age, 1682. There 
were so many spurious " Claudes" sold, even during the 
painter's lifetime, that he had resort to a book called 
"The Book of Truth," in which he made a sketch and 
kept a complete list of his pictures, and to whom they 
were sold. The " Book of Truth" is in possession of the 
Duke of Devonshire. Claude is well represented in the 
National Gallery by his " Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca" 
and "The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba," and 
England probably has more of his pictures than any other 
country. It is said that he never learned to paint figures, 
and that those in his pictures were painted by other art- 
ists, and to such a degree was he self-taught that he even 
painted animals badly. He was peculiarly successful in 
his painting of leaves and foliage, and his skies have never 
been surpassed. Some of his finest paintings are in the 
Doria and Sciarra Palaces, in Rome. Engravings of his 
pictures are common. 

2. William Turner. (See 195 in "What?") 

3. Thomas Gainsborough was born at Sudbury, in 
Suffolk, in 1727. His father was a manufacturer of soys 
and crapes, and his uncle was master of the grammar- 
school where Thomas was educated. He early gave signs 
of the bent of his genius, and in his sixteenth year was 



WHAT? 325 



sent to London to pursue his studies as a painter. When 
he was eighteen years of age he set up for himself as a 
portrait- and landscape-painter, but not succeeding in his 
bold attempt he returned to Sudbury, and with the great- 
est rashness married the next year. This marriage, which 
had the full consent of his friends, seems to have been a 
great safeguard to Gainsborough. He was an impulsive 
man, heedless of self-interest, and in spite of his strong 
will and common sense required a faithful wife to balance 
him. A devoted, loving spouse Margaret Burr proved 
herself, and brought with her, besides her good heart, 
something substantial, in the way of an annuity of two 
hundred pounds a year, which with economy enabled 
them, in those plain and simple days, to live right com- 
fortably. Soon after his marriage he took a house in Ips- 
wich, where he resided and painted for- over twelve years. 
It is to his wife's fond care, during his lifetime, of every 
scrap of her husband's work, that we owe the preservation 
of many of the great careless painter's drawings. While 
in Ipswich he profited from his friend Mr. Kirby's writings 
and lessons in perspective, and there he indulged in his 
inclinations to social and musical entertainments by cul- 
tivating the acquaintance of the greatest glee singers in the 
town. In 1760 he moved to Bath, then gay and brilliant 
in its society, and his portraits soon became the rage. 
He soon raised his price to eight guineas for a head, and 
a hundred for a whole picture. As Gainsborough excelled 
both in portrait- and landscape-painting, we have included 
him under the two heads, since it was in both that he 
conspicuously figured during his lifetime. Soon after his 
removal to Bath he began to exhibit his pictures among 
those of the Society of Arts in London, and was elected 
one of its original thirty-six members. He began by 
sending many pictures, but owing to a dispute he had with 
the president of the Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, he 
did not exhibit there for more than five or six successive 
years. In 1774 Gainsborough removed to London, and 
took part of the old house of the Duke of Schomberg, in 
Pali-Mall. He was the acknowledged rival of Sir Joshua 
in portrait-painting, and of Richard Wilson in landscape- 
painting, and such was his reputation that the king, George 

28 



326 



WHA T? 



III., and his queen sat to him, as they had sat to Sir Joshua. 
Gainsborough died in 1787, in his sixty-first year. He 
left in moderate circumstances two daughters and his 
widow. He is represented as a warm-hearted, passionate, 
strong-willed man, gratifying his own inclinations too 
freely, as in his love for music, for which he often neg- 
lected his pencil, though he never grew to be anything 
but an indifferent performer. " As an artist, he ranks 
among the first, if not the very first, of English landscape- 
painters. In coloring he is said to be capable of taking 
rank with Rubens ; he is the purest^colorist — Sir Joshua 
himself not excepted — of the whole English school ; with 
him the art of painting did, in great part, die, and does 
not now exist in Europe." His landscapes are thoroughly 
English, the most famous of them being " The Cottage 
Door" and " The Woodman with his Dog in the Storm." 
The last was burned, and only survives as an engraving, 
and as a piece of tapestry done by Miss Lynwood, and 
now owned by Queen Victoria. Gainsborough's children 
are admirable, and when he attempts to paint a little 
rustic he does it in very truth. In portraits he fully com- 
peted for the palm with Sir Joshua, and those that he left 
behind him prove that he carried the palm with the equal 
grace and ease of his rival. A superbly painted portrait of 
Mrs. Graham, of Lynedoch, is in the National Gallery of 
Edinburgh. The National Gallery of London has " Musi- 
dora," a small picture of children, and four landscapes 
by Gainsborough. At our late Centennial Exhibition, in 
the English department, was a charming portrait of the 
Duchess of Richmond, by Thomas Gainsborough. 

4. Nicolas Poussin was born at Andelys, in Nor- 
mandy, in 1594. Little is known of his parentage, but 
that he was well educated seems quite evident, as in after- 
years he was remarkable for his great classical learning. 
He was regularly trained to be a painter under masters in 
.his native town, and afterwards in Paris. Not satisfied 
with the patronage he received in Paris, Poussin went to 
Rome in his thirtieth year, where he died in 1665, when 
he was seventy-one years of age. In Rome he is said to 
have lived on terms of intimacy with a sculptor, whose 
devotion to antique art influenced his taste and lent the 



WHAT. 



3 2 7 



strong classical bent which it retained. He was a regu- 
lar student of the school of Domenichino. His " Death 
of Germanicus" and "The Capture of Jerusalem," 
which were painted for Cardinal Barberini, won general 
admiration. In 1629, when in his thirty-fifth year, he 
married the sister of his pupil, Gaspard Dughet. When 
Nicolas Poussin was a middle-aged man he returned to 
Paris, and was presented to King Louis XIII. by Car- 
dinal Richelieu, and offered apartments in the Tuileries, 
with the title of painter in ordinary, and an annuity of 
one hundred and twenty pounds a year. He returned to 
Rome for his wife, intending to settle in Paris; but Louis 
dying in the mean time, the attractions of the Eternal 
City proved too great for the painter, and in place of re- 
moving his household and studio to his native country 
he passed the remainder of his life in Rome. Very little 
is known of his private character, and in absence of any 
better testimony, it is presumed that he was "quiet" like 
his best pictures. As a historical painter Poussin takes 
a high rank, and Mr. Ruskin calls him "The great mas- 
ter of elevated ideal landscape -painting," and says his 
"Nursing of Jupiter," in the Dulwich Gallery, " is one of 
the finest landscapes that ancient art has produced." His 
" Phocion" is in the National Gallery. He is repre- 
sented as a handsome man, with much dignity in his 
bearing. His pictures have often been engraved. 

68. Kohinoor. — What is the meaning of this word? 
Airs. Mountain of Light. 

69. The Fruit of Destiny. — What flower is thus 
called ? Ans. The lotos. It grows luxuriantly in Japan 
and the East. 

70. Cyrus. — What Persian conqueror knew the name 
of every officer, some say soldier, in his army? Ans. 
Cyrus. (See 194 in "Who?") 

71. Queen Elizabeth. — What queen died the owner 
of a thousand dresses ? Ans. Queen Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth was the only child of Anne Boleyn, by Henry 
VIII., and was born a few months after their marriage, on 
the 7th of September, 1533, at the royal palace of Green- 
wich, in Kent. Her sister Mary, the child of Catherine 
of Aragon, then sixteen years old, was stripped of the 



328 WHAT* 



title of Princess of Wales, which she had borne from her 
childhood, that it might adorn a younger sister. By the 
king's special command, Cranmer, Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, stood godfather to the young princess. Anne 
Boleyn afterwards being beheaded, and Henry marrying 
Jane Seymour, who had a son, Edward, Elizabeth and 
Mary were both set aside, and this prince nominated to 
the succession. Edward VI. ascended the throne in 1547, 
when only ten years of age, but he only lived some six 
years longer, and then Mary came to rule in his place. 
Elizabeth was devoted to her young brother from the first, 
and it was a bitter disappointment to her when she found 
that Mary, and not herself, had been named as his suc- 
cessor. Notwithstanding all obstacles, she was destined 
to come to the throne, and on the death of Mary she was 
proclaimed queen on November 17, 1558, in the twenty- 
fifth year of her age. This event filled all England with 
joy. The prudence which as a subject she had displayed 
during the reign of her sister gave promise of excellence 
in the sovereign. It required all the sagacity and caution 
of Elizabeth to elude the effects of the violent jealousy 
which the queen entertained against her. That which 
was promised was, in a great measure, fulfilled. By her 
wise counsels the Protestant religion was fostered ; the 
Church of England received its present form ; agri- 
culture, commerce, arts, and literature attained to an 
elevation unknown in England before. Her intrepid 
and sagacious mind, her policy so firmly pursued, ren- 
dered her the most respected and powerful sovereign 
in Europe. She colonized a large portion of North 
America, supported the infant republic of Holland against 
its tyrannical enemy, humbled the pride of Spain, in the 
defeat of its boasted Armada (see 9 in "What?"), and 
assisted Henry IV. of France in the recovery of his king- 
dom. She sought the true interests and glory of her subjects 
so far as concerned their temporal prosperity or their ex- 
ternal religious observances. Yet it must be acknowledged 
that she compassed her objects often by very questionable 
means. She was stern, unyielding, unrelenting, despotic 
in her maxims of government, and was guilty at times 
of the basest acts of cruelty and hypocrisy. Her treat- 



WHAT? 



329 



ment of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, whom she re- 
ceived into her kingdom and promised to protect (see 
104 in "What?"), then beheaded on the bare suspicion 
of a conspiracy, has loaded her memory with a degree of 
reproach which the splendor of her reign in other respects 
can never obliterate. She was vain, and fond of admira- 
tion to a degree rarely witnessed, and when an old woman 
of nearly seventy frisked and coquetted, demanding com- 
pliments and adulation as though she were still in her 
teens. Roger Ascham was her learned preceptor, and he 
speaks in the highest terms of her intellect. He says of 
her, " The lady Elizabeth has accomplished her sixteenth 
year ; and so much solidity of understanding, such cour- 
tesy, united with dignity, have never been observed at so 
early an age. She has the most ardent love of true re- 
ligion, and of the best kind of literature. The constitu- 
tion of her mind is. exempt from female weakness, and 
she is endued with a masculine power of application. No 
apprehension can be quicker than hers, no memory more 
retentive. French and Italian she speaks like English ; 
Latin with fluency, propriety, and judgment ; she also 
spoke Greek with me frequently, willingly, and moder- 
ately well. Nothing can be more elegant than her hand- 
writing, whether in the Greek or Roman character. In 
music she is very skillful, but does not greatly delight. 
With respect to personal decoration, she greatly prefers a 
simple elegance to show and splendor." Later in life she 
changed, and nothing was too gaudy for her tastes. From 
early infancy her marriage was a matter of discussion, 
and when only two years old her hand was offered to the 
Earl of Arran, who was claiming the regency of Scotland, 
on the birth of the young Mary. Of so little consequence 
was Elizabeth then considered, that the earl was not at all 
flattered by the proposition, and renounced it by quitting 
the English for the French party. Then it was proposed to 
marry her to Philip of Spain, who afterwards married her 
sister Mary. This also fell through ; why, or how, we 
cannot ascertain. Then Thomas Seymour, lord admiral, 
aspired to her hand. He had married Catherine Parr, the 
widow of Henry VIII., and at her death made love to 
Elizabeth in right good earnest. There is every reason 

28* 



330 WHAT 2 



to believe that she returned it, and also that perhaps had 
he lived she might have married him. There is a great 
mystery connected with her friendship for this man, and 
many stories told of them which reflect little credit on 
either. She was only sixteen at the time, however, which 
is something of an excuse. Seymour was beheaded, to 
the great grief of Elizabeth, who ever held his memory 
sacred. The next attempt to marry her was during her 
brother Edward's reign, to the Prince of Denmark. This 
proved fruitless, in consequence of the unwillingness to 
the alliance that Elizabeth herself manifested. She was 
kept in close confinement in the Tower for three months, 
under suspicion of being in intrigue with Sir Thomas 
Wyatt's rebellion ; but on his death he declared her to 
be innocent, so there was no further reason to keep her 
imprisoned. She was offered freedom by marrying the 
Duke of Savoy. This she modestly but firmly refused, 
never seeming to lose sight of the crown that was willed 
her by her father, and which kept her in her own country, 
and made her unwilling to accept any tie which should 
loosen her hold on the affection of the people or take her 
out of England. Again the King of Sweden became a 
suitor for her hand for his eldest son Eric. This honor 
also Elizabeth found means to decline. Not long after 
this, on the death of Mary, she came to her rightful herit- 
age, the throne of England. No sooner had she taken 
the royal sceptre than Philip II. again offered his hand to 
her ; but he was unpopular in England, and had made 
Mary so unhappy that Elizabeth found ways of refus- 
ing him without wounding his feelings. Then came 
the Archduke Charles, son of the Emperor Ferdinand. 
With him she led his ambassadors to think she enter- 
tained quite an idea of marriage, and her subjects were 
anxious for the union, but after a while this also fell 
through. Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Lei- 
cester, was her principal favorite, and aspired to her hand, 
but the nation was bitterly opposed to him, as he was 
dishonorable and unscrupulous to a terrible degree. He 
was suspected of putting the beautiful Amy Robsart to 
death, that there might be no obstacle to his marriage 
with the queen. After his death she became attached to 



WHAT? 



33 l 



the Earl of Essex, one of her ministers. She evidently- 
believed — 

" That always to court and never to wed, 
Was the happiest life that ever was led," 

for she kept her resolution of remaining a " virgin queen" 
to the last, as she had given notice that she should do to 
her first Parliament, when they urged marriage upon her. 
When Elizabeth came to the throne her empire was in a 
sad state : the exchequer was almost empty ; the English 
had lost Calais ; trade was decayed ; and the country had 
been recently visited by pestilence and famine, affecting 
the minds of her subjects with despondency and paralyzing 
their efforts. But she brought no faint heart with her, 
and by her own courage and bravery inspired with strength 
and resolution her wise counselors, who gave such peace 
and security to England as it had never had before. The 
great Sir William Cecil, lord treasurer, afterwards Lord 
of Burleigh, was her constant friend and adviser. Rigid 
parsimony was the virtue and foible of Elizabeth, and 
was attended by its good and its evil. It endeared her to 
the people, whom it protected from the imposition of new 
and oppressive taxes ; but this frugality was united to a 
love of display and magnificence in all that surrounded 
her, or that related to her personal appearance, which be- 
trayed her into a thousand meannesses, which, in spite of 
the many arts of graciousness in which she was an adept, 
served to alienate the affections of those who were in 
close attendance on her. Her nobles found themselves 
fieavily burdened by the long and frequent visits which 
she paid them at their country-seats, always attended by 
an enormous retinue. On New-Year's, custom required 
of them to present her with gifts, consisting of jewelry, 
adornments for the house, and dresses, and even under- 
garments were received with the greatest complacency. 
Some say she owned two thousand dresses at the time of 
her death. Her nobles always went with a present when 
they had favors or even justice to ask at her hands. She 
was so averse to matrimony that the courtiers hardly dare 
name it to her, and her two principal favorites, Leicester 
and his step-son Essex, were married privately, as were 
many others of her court. Essex married the widow of Sir 



33 2 



WHAT? 



Philip Sidney, and when she discovered it she banished 
him from her court. She had imprisoned Leicester for 
the same thing before. She was old enough to be the 
mother of Essex, yet she conceived for him a very tender 
passion. They had many quarrels and reconciliations, 
but Essex was at length teased into a crime by her ca- 
pricious humor, which she could not pardon. He had 
severely reflected on her person (for though then nearly 
seventy years of age, she wished to be thought a beauty), 
and connecting this with some suspicious movements of 
a treasonable nature, he was soon arraigned, convicted, 
and brought to the block. From this period her mind 
began to be depressed. The cause doubtless was the re- 
vival of her tenderness for the impetuous Essex. While 
under sentence of death, he sent by the Countess of Not- 
tingham, to the queen, a ring which she had given him 
as a pledge of her affection, and of the confidence he 
might feel that, in whatever disgrace he might be, the 
sight of it would secure her favorable interposition. The 
countess, at the instigation of her husband, the mortal 
enemy of Essex, neglected to deliver it, and when on her 
death-bed, sent for Elizabeth to confess the truth. The 
queen, bursting into a frantic passion, shook the dying 
countess in her bed, exclaiming, " God may pardon you, 
but I never can !" From that moment Elizabeth fell into 
the profoundest melancholy, refused food and medicine, 
and, throwing herself on the floor, remained in that state 
several days and nights, till she expired, on the 24th of 
March, 1603. When asked whom she wished to succeed 
her, she retorted, with her old energy, "that she had 
borne a royal sceptre, and wished none but a royal suc- 
cessor," which she explained to be one who was then 
actually a king, namely, " her nearest kinsman, the King 
of Scots." He was the son of the unfortunate Mary, 
Queen of Scots. (See 104 in " What?") 

72. Public Games. — What nation first invented public 
games and the coinage of gold? Ans. The Phoenicians. 

73. Dido. — What is the meaning of this word? Ans. 
Valiant woman. (See 79 in "Who?") 

74. Plato. — What eminent Grecian philosopher was 
called the Divine? Ans. Plato. 



WHAT? 



333 



Plato was born 429 B.C. His name, Aristocles, was 
changed to Plato from the largeness of his shoulders. He 
was eight years the pupil of Socrates, after whose death 
he traveled into foreign countries. When he had finished 
these he retired to the groves of Academus, where he was 
attended by a crowd of noble and illustrious pupils. His 
learning and virtues were topics of conversation in every 
part of Greece. He was elegant in his manners, and par- 
took of pleasures and amusements. The works of Plato 
are numerous ; they are all in the form of a dialogue ex- 
cept twelve letters. The ancients, and even the learned 
moderns, have highly respected and admired the writings 
of this great philosopher. They display unusual depth 
of thought and singular elegance, melody, and sweetness 
of expression. Among other truths, he maintained by 
many powerful arguments the immortality of the soul. 
He died in his eighty-first year, about 348 B.C. 

75. Pork. — What religious sects are never allowed to 
touch this meat? Ans. The Mohammedans and Jews. 

76. Hugh Miller. — What great geologist was a mason ? 
Ans. Hugh Miller. 

Hugh Miller, "the stone-mason of Cromarty," a town 
in the north of Scotland, was born October 10, 1802. 
His only education, in the scholastic sense of the term, 
was received at the grammar-school in his native town ; 
and yet, he is scarcely less remarkable as a master of pic- 
turesque English prose than as a practical geologist. On 
leaving school at seventeen he began to work as a stone- 
mason, and continued at this labor till his thirty-fourth 
year, devoting, however, all his leisure moments to re- 
searches in natural history and to the enlargement of his 
literary knowledge, Shakspeare, Milton, and Bacon being 
his favorite authors. Most of his companions in labor 
were of questionable habits, and it seems wonderful that 
he escaped falling into the same. He opened his brilliant 
literary career in 1829, by publishing a volume of "Poems, 
by a Stone-Mason," which was well received, and soon 
after " Letters on the Herring Fishery," descriptive of a 
fisher's life at sea, which gave evidence of his nice ob- 
serving faculties and of his pure English style. After 
about sixteen years spent with his hammer and chisel, he 



334 



WHAT. 



became, after his marriage, accountant in a Cromarty 
bank. He passed some six years in this position, during 
which his chief literary ^performance was ''Scenes and 
Legends in the North of Scotland, or the Traditional 
History of Cromarty." The Church of Scotland was at 
that time deeply agitated by the ''Non-Intrusion princi- 
ple," and his feelings being all on the side of the " Non- 
Intrusionists," he wrote two powerful pamphlets on the 
subject, which attracted so much attention that he was 
elected, in 1840, to edit the "Edinburgh Witness." Ac- 
cordingly, he removed to that city and entered at once 
upon his duties as editor, which station he filled with sig- 
nal ability to the day of his death. But amid all the toils 
of journalism he continued to cultivate his darling studies. 
"The Old Red Sandstone" appeared in 1841 ; the "First 
Impressions of England and its People" in 1847 '■> tne 
"Foot-Prints of the Creator" in 1850; a charming 
autobiography, entitled " My Schools and Schoolmas- 
ters," in 1854, and " The Testimony of the Rocks" in 
1857. Indeed, his labors were altogether too much for 
him; his brain gave way, and in a moment of aberration 
he put an end to his own life, at Portobella, near Edin- 
burgh, on the 24th of December, 1856. Two other 
works, "The Cruise of the Betsey," a geological voyage 
to the Hebrides, and " The Sketch-Book of Popular 
Geology," were edited by his widow after his death. No 
one has done so much as Hugh Miller to make the study 
of geology interesting and popular, and hardly any one 
has equaled him in the grace, purity, and varied splendor 
of his style. 

77. What three famous men died on the 27th of De- 
cember? Ans. Hugh Blair, John Keats, Charles Lamb. 

1. Hugh Blair was born in Edinburgh in 17 18. In 
1730 he entered the University of Edinburgh, where he 
passed eleven years in the study of literature, philosophy, 
and divinity. In 1739 he received the degree of A.M., 
and in 1741 he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery 
of Edinburgh. In the following year he was settled in 
the parish of Colessie, in Fifeshire, but was not permitted 
to remain long in this rural retreat, for a vacancy oc- 
curring in the Canongate Church in Edinburgh he was 



WHAT? 33S 



elected its minister. In this station Dr. Blair remained 
eleven years, discharging with great fidelity the various 
duties of the pastoral office, and attracting general ad- 
miration for the chaste eloquence of his pulpit discourses. 
In 1754 he was transferred to ''Lady Zester's Church," 
and four years later to the High Church of Edinburgh, 
the most important ecclesiastical charge in the kingdom. 
In 1759 he delivered a course of lectures on Rhetoric and 
Belles-Lettres, with such success that the university insti- 
tuted a rhetorical class under his direction, and the king 
founded a professorship, to the chair of which Dr. Blair 
was appointed. In 1763 he published a " Dissertation on 
the Poems of Ossian," which evinced critical taste and 
learning. In 1777 appeared his first volume of sermons, 
which were received with great favor and had a very ex- 
tensive circulation. In 1783 he resigned his professor- 
ship and published his " Lectures on Rhetoric," which 
have been a text-book in most of our colleges for half a 
century. It is by these lectures that Dr. Blair is now 
chiefly known. The latter years of his life he spent in 
literary leisure, giving to the public three more volumes 
of his sermons, and in the summer .of 1800 began to pre- 
pare an additional volume, but his death occurring on the 
following 27th of December, he did not live to complete 
it. In 1748 Blair had married his cousin, Miss Bannatin, 
by whom he had a son and a daughter, but he outlived 
wife and children. Dr. Johnson said of him, " I love 
Blair's sermons, though the dog is a Scotchman, and a 
Presbyterian, and everything he should not be." 

2. John Keats was born in London, October 29, 
1795. At fifteen he was apprenticed to a surgeon, but 
being richly endowed by nature with the poetical faculty, 
he devoted the most of his time to the cultivation of let- 
ters. He was early introduced to Leigh Hunt, who was 
struck with the exuberance of his genius, through speci- 
mens of the poetry that young Keats laid before him. He 
at once introduced him to the public. In 181 7 Keats 
published a volume containing his juvenile poetry, and 
shortly after his long poem, " Endymion, a Poetic Ro- 
mance," which, defective though it was in many parts, 
evinced great but undisciplined powers of imagination. 



336 WHAT? 



It was criticised in a short but very severe article by John 
Wilson Croker in the " Quarterly Review," and such was 
the effect of this article upon the sensitiveness of the 
youthful poet as to embitter his whole future existence. 
Shelley says, " Its first effects are described to me to have 
resembled insanity, and it was only by assiduous watching 
that he was restrained from effecting purposes of suicide. 
The agony of his sufferings at length produced the rup- 
ture of a blood-vessel in the lungs, and the usual pro- 
cesses of consumption seem to have begun." To recover 
his health Keats traveled to Rome, where he died on the 
27th of December, 1820. Previously he had published 
another volume of poems, containing "Lamia," "Isa- 
bella," "The Eve of St. Agnes," and "Hyperion." De 
Quincey places the last at the head of Keats's list. 
3. Charles Lamb. (See 6 in "Who?") 
78. Pass of Thermopylae. — What happened there? 
A7is. Xerxes, the Persian king, came into Greece with 
his immense army of two million men, easily conquering 
all before him till he reached this pass, where for two 
days he was effectually resisted by Leonidas, one of the 
two reigning kings of Sparta, with only six thousand 
brave Greeks. Xerxes was a vain mortal, and he sent 
word to the Spartan general to give up his arms. Leon- 
idas sent this message in reply, "Let him come and take 
them." The bravest of the Persian troops were sent out 
against him, but were always driven back. The Persians 
lost twenty thousand men. At last a wretch informed the 
king of a secret path by which he could mount an emi- 
nence and overlook the Grecian camp. The Persians 
gained this advantageous post during the darkness of 
night, and the next morning the Greeks discovered that 
they had been betrayed. Leonidas saw at once that it 
would be more than madness to expect his little band to 
overcome the forces of Xerxes, so he sent away his allies, 
keeping with him only his three hundred brave Lacedae- 
monians. He had been told by the Oracle that either 
Sparta or her king must perish, and he longed to die for 
the good of his country. He fell among the first, heroic- 
ally fighting and covered with wounds. Out of the three 
hundred heroes, only one escaped to Sparta to tell how 



WHAT? 



337 



her warriors had died in her defense. Xerxes entered 
Athens only to find it desolate and deserted. (See 105 
in " Who?") 

79. Seventeen Provinces. — What was thus known? 
Ans. Holland was thus called. It was divided into sev- 
enteen provinces ; seven were called the " Seven United 
Provinces," and the remaining ten were known by the 
name of Flanders. 

80. Wives of Henry VIII. of England.— What 
were their names? Ans. First he married Catherine of 
Aragon, with whom he lived for over sixteen years. She 
was the widow of his brother, and afterwards Henry pre- 
tended to. have conscientious scruples about his having 
married her, and when their daughter Mary was sixteen 
years old he was divorced from Catherine and disinherited 
Mary. Subsequently she was reinstated in the line of 
succession, and after Edward VI. 's death came to the 
throne. 

2. The beautiful Anne Boleyn was his second wife. 
She was an attendant on Catherine, and the mother of 
Elizabeth. She was married very secretly to Henry, be- 
fore he had received his divorce from Catherine. She 
was very beautiful, and was crowned in Westminster. She 
was the only one of his queens who had this honor con- 
ferred upon her. Her triumph was short-lived, as she 
soon fell under Henry's suspicions, was committed to 
custody, and beheaded, having enjoyed her queenship 
little more than a year. Before her death she declared 
her marriage with the king null and void and Elizabeth 
illegitimate, thus explaining, in a measure, why Elizabeth 
left her remains without a monument and her conduct 
without an apology. (See 71 in "What?") 

3. Henry married the accomplished Jane Seymour for 
his third wife. They were wedded on the very day after 
Anne Boleyn's death, and the succession immediately set- 
tled upon her children. She died on the birth of her 
son, who reigned after Henry as Edward VI. 

•4. Anne of Clevescame next, a German princess, whom 

he married in January, 1540. This was brought about 

mostly through Cromwell, who afterwards was made Earl 

of Essex, and fell under the king's displeasure. She was 

p 29 



338 WHAT? 



very ugly, with large hands and feet, and as these were 
traits the fastidious king could not overlook, he was soon 
divorced from her. 

5. Catherine Howard a very few weeks after this was 
won and declared queen. She was a first cousin of Anne 
Boleyn. She was proved unfaithful, and beheaded. Henry 
is said to have loved her better than any of his wives. 

6. Catherine Parr, a widow of Lord Latimer, was his 
sixth wife. Most fortunately for her, before Henry could 
find a pretext for giving her head to the axe he died, on 
the 28th of January, 1547. Catherine Parr was a most 
excellent mother to the young princesses, Mary and Eliza- 
beth, whom she treated in the kindest and tenderest man- 
ner. This queen married the Lord Seymour who made 
love, after Catherine's death, to Elizabeth. (See 71 in 
"What?") 

81. Religious Painters. — What celebrated artists 
were religious painters ? Am. Murillo, Raphael, Michael 
Angelo, Albrecht Durer, Paul Veronese, and Correggio 
were among the greatest religious painters. 

1. Bartolom6 Esteban Murillo was born at Se- 
ville in 1618. He was of obscure origin, and began life 
in humble circumstances. There are stories of his being 
self-taught, of his studying ragged boys — himself little 
more than a boy — in the gypsy quarter of Triana, in Se- 
ville ; of his painting in the market-place, where he proba- 
bly found the originals of his heads and Madonnas in the 
peasants who came to Seville with their fruits and flowers. 
In 1642 Murillo, then twenty-four years of age, visited 
Madrid, where he was kindly received and aided in his 
art by the court painter, Velasquez, some twenty years his 
senior. It had been his intention to proceed to England, 
and study under Van Dyke, but the death of the latter 
prevented his carrying out his desire. Want of means 
forbade his going to Italy ; but for three years he had the 
counsel and advice of Velasquez, which proved of great 
service to him. At the end of this time he returned to 
Seville, and settled there, where his works became *as 
famous as they deserved. He was acknowledged the 
head of the school of Seville, and was made first presi- 
dent of the Academy of Art, which he founded. In his 



WHAT? 



339 



thirtieth year he married a lady of some fortune, by 
whom he had two sons and a daughter. The latter took 
the veil eight years before her father's death. The painter 
entertained at his house in Seville the most exclusive so- 
ciety of the city. In 1682 Murillowas at Cadiz painting 
a picture of the marriage of St. Catherine in the church 
of the Capuchins, when the scaffolding gave way, and he 
received so severe an injury that he was forced to leave 
his work incomplete and return to Seville, where he died 
from the effects of the fall not long afterwards, in his 
sixty-fourth year. In character he was a gentle, enthusi- 
astic man, with a touch of fun and frolic in his compo- 
sition. He was possessed of greater and higher imagina- 
tion than Velasquez, and the longer he lived and worked 
the more refined and exalted his ideas became. He was 
eminently a Spanish painter, and during the last years of 
his life confined himself almost entirely to religious sub- 
jects. Without the elevation and training of the Italian 
painters, Murillo has left abundant proofs of great original 
genius. He was buried at his own request in the Cathe- 
dral of Seville, before a picture of Pedro de Campana, 
the " Deposition from the Cross," which was his favorite 
picture. His works are widely circulated, but the chief 
are still in his own city. Six are in the church of the 
Caridad, among them " Moses Striking the Rock," and 
the "Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes." Seven Mu- 
rillos are in the Convento de la Merced, among them his 
own favorite picture, called " Mi Cirado of St. Thomas 
of Villaneuva. " While at work at this convent the cook 
begged a memorial of him, offering his napkin as the 
canvas, on which Murillo at once painted a " brilliant, 
glowing Madonna with a child," which seemed to fairly 
bound forward out of the napkin. This is called the 
" Virgin of the Napkin." In the cathedral where the 
great painter is buried hangs his "Angel de la Guards," 
and his "St. Antonio." In the National Gallery is a large 
" Holy Family" of Murillo's, and in the Dulwich Gallery 
there is a laughing boy, an irresistible specimen of brown- 
cheeked, white-teethed drollery. 

2. Raphael. (See 23 in "What?") 

3. Michael Angelo. (See 125 in "Who?") 



340 



WHAT? 



4. Albrecht Diirer was born in the quaint old city of 
Nuremberg in 1471. He has been called the "Father of 
German painting," and he is most "thoroughly German, 
not only in his Saxon honesty, sedateness, and strength, 
but in the curious mixture of simplicity, subtlety, homeli- 
ness, and fantasticalness, which are still found side by side 
in German genius." Albrecht was the son of a goldsmith, 
and one of a family of eighteen children. In this early 
home school he probably first learned the lessons of manly 
endurance and self-denial which he practiced all his life. 
He was taught his father's trade, but his genius as an 
artist was so unmistakable that he was wisely placed in a 
painter's studio, where he served his apprenticeship to art. 
When this first apprenticeship was finished, he followed 
the German custom — very valuable to him — of serving 
another, called the "wandering apprenticeship," which 
took him through Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, 
painting and studying as he went. About this time he 
painted his own portrait, — a passion most of these old art- 
ists had, fearing their rivals would not do them justice, 
— which represents "a comely, pleasant, and pleased 
young fellow, in a curious holiday suit, with a profusion 
of long, fair curls elaborately arranged on each side," — for 
he was vain of these flowing locks, — " the blue eyes look- 
ing with frank confidence out of the blonde face." Later, 
he painted himself with a " brave, kindly face grown ma- 
ture, with the wisdom of the spirit shining in the eyes and 
weighing on the brows." Sorrow and trouble have come 
into the smiling boy's face, and made of him an old man 
long before his time. On his return from his travels, Al- 
brecht's father had a wife chosen for him, and without 
much say on his part, like a dutiful son he took the 
woman, who marred and blighted his whole after-life. 
There is a legend of the painter's having been deeply at- 
tached to a noble girl in Nuremberg, whose proud father 
stepped in and sent her to a convent to prevent her marry- 
ing the "smith." That Albrecht Diirer carried the re- 
membrance of this devotion like a shadow through his 
life we have good reason to believe, but he was not a 
weak man and one to fold his hands when trouble came, 
so we find him devoting himself to his art, and from his 



WHAT? 



341 



strong, brave lips never hear a murmur of the unhappi- 
ness in his domestic life. In 1506 he revisited Italy, 
making a stay of eight months in Venice, where he 
formed his friendship with Giovanni Bellini. While 
here he showed the proofs and plans of his engravings to 
the great Italian engraver Raimondi, who engraved Ra- 
phael's paintings, and who proved himself base enough to 
steal and make use of Albrecht's designs, to the German's 
serious loss and inconvenience. Later, the painter visited 
the Netherlands, this time accompanied by his wife. The 
Emperor Maximilian treated the artist with great atten- 
tion. While executing a large amount of work for the 
great towns and sovereign princes of Germany, some of 
whom were said to consult Diirer on their military opera- 
tions, relying on his knowledge of mathematics, and his 
being able to apply it to military engineering and fortifi- 
cation, this great artist was constantly improving and ad- 
vancing in his art, laying down his prejudices, and acquir- 
ing fresh ideas as well as fresh information, in the slow 
but sure process of the true German mind, so that his last 
work, " The Apostles," was incomparably his best. This 
he presented to his native city, by every inhabitant of 
which he was greatly beloved, and by whom his memory 
is still cherished. His quaint house still stands, and his 
tomb bears the motto "Emigravit," ''For the great 
painter never dies." He died in his fifty-seventh year, 
and his name will ever rank with those of the first painters 
of any time or country, though his work as a painter was 
subservient to his work as an engraver. Among his greatest 
paintings are his " Adoration of the Trinity," at Vienna, 
his " Adam and Eve," at Florence, and " The Apostles," 
before mentioned. At our late Centennial exhibition, 
in the "Art Annex," was a painting by Albrecht Diirer, 
— in the loan collection of the United States, — his " St. 
Jerome." Here also were to be found "St. Francis in 
his Cell," attributed to Murillo; "The Crucifixion," 
which was truly Van Dyke's; two portraits by Sir Joshua 
Reynolds of "Mr. and Mrs. Groves," and two pictures 
by Andrea del Sarto, " St. Andrew bearing his Cross" 
and "Christ stilling the Tempest." 

5. Paul Veronese. (See 147 in "What?") 
29* 



342 



WHAT: 



6. Correggio. (See 147 in "What?") 

82. Doomsday Book. — What was it? A?is. William 
the Conqueror of England had a survey made of all the 
lands and estates of the kingdom, with an estimate of 
their value, an enumeration of every class of inhabitants 
who lived on them, and other important specifications. 
This record was called the Doomsday Book, and is still in 
existence. (See 138 in "Who?") 

83. The Pendulum. — What suggested it to Galileo? 
Ans. In Pisa, Italy, there is a stately rotunda called the 
Baptistery, which is some years older than the Leaning 
Tower. In it hangs a lamp, which swings from side to 
side, and this swinging-lamp gave the world, through 
Galileo, the Pendulum. (See 24 and 41 in " What?") 

84. " Diogenes of Modern Times." — What author 
is thus called? Ans. Rousseau. (See 21 in "What?") 

85. Greek Sculpture. — What celebrated pieces have 
come down to us in the present day? Ans. " The Dying 
Gladiator," the "Venus," the "Faun," and the "Thes- 
pian Cupid," by Praxiteles, which are in the Museum of 
the Capitol, at Rome. The "Apollo with the Lizard," 
also by Praxiteles, one of the most beautiful as well as 
the most difficult specimens of antiquity ; the colossal 
"Ceres," the work of Phidias. The "Ceres" is in the 
University Library, at Cambridge. After having suffered 
many mutilations, it was brought over to England by 
Dr. Clark and Mr. Cripp, in 1801. "The Laocoon" is 
the wealth of the Vatican, in Rome, and the wonderful 
"Venus de Milo" is the property of the Louvre, in Paris. 
During the late siege of Paris, some trusty hand secreted 
this beautiful "Venus de Milo," packed her carefully in 
straw, placed her in a strong box, put her in a cellar, and 
threw rubbish around and over her. When the siege was 
ended, and order and quiet restored to the city, the win- 
some beauty was replaced on her proud pedestal in the art 
gallery of the Louvre, where we trust she will be content 
to remain forever. (See 174 in " What ?") The " Apollo 
Belvedere" — so named from an octagon court in which 
the matchless "Apollo" stands, in the Vatican — was found 
near Antium, in the ruins of a Roman villa supposed to 
have originally belonged to Nero. The name of the art- 



WHAT? 



343 



ist is unknown. The " Dying Gladiator" was also found 
at Antium, in the same spot with the "Apollo Belvedere." 

86. Five Orders of Architecture. — What are they? 
Ans. The Tuscan, the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, 
and the Composite. 

87. What three belonged to the Creeks? Ans. The 
Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian. Architecture was 
an elegant art, in which antiquity excelled. The neces- 
sary and useful were all that was first sought in build- 
ings. Luxury aimed at ornament. The Doric possessed 
a masculine grandeur and sublime plainness; the Ionic 
was marked with gracefulness and elegance ; the Corin- 
thian affected the highest magnificence and ornament, by 
uniting the characteristics of both. 

88. Mount Leucas. — What was the famous rock from 
which disappointed lovers jumped into the sea, seeking 
thus a death or a cure ? Ans. On the promontory Leucas, 
in Greece, was a rock, called Mount Leucas, from which 
these rash persons usually found death. The tender 
Sappho, a Greek poetess, conceived a violent passion for 
Phaon, a youth of Mitylene, and because he could not be 
persuaded to return her lavishing fondness, in a moment 
of frenzy threw herself off Mount Leucas. Sappho is the 
inventor of the Sapphic verse ; she composed nine books in 
lyric verse, besides elegies and epigrams. Of all the songs 
of this fair and beautiful Sappho, nothing is now extant but 
two fragments, one of which is preserved by Longinus. She 
flourished about 600 years B.C., and was born in the island 
of Lesbos. Her poems were admired for their sweetness and 
elegance, yet were declared to be revoltingly licentious. 

89. Pictures of Van Dyke. — What great artist 
bought all of them because he said he could not live on 
the profits of his work ? Ans. Peter Paul Rubens. 

Van Dyke had gone to Italy on Rubens's suggestion, 
and on his return complained to his master that he could 
not live on what his pictures brought him. On hearing 
this, the noble Rubens went next day to the studio of his 
friend and bought every picture that Van Dyke had for sale. 

go. Fine Horses. — What city was famed for them? 
Ans. Elis, in Greece. 

91. Sacca. — What was the festival thus called? Ans. 



344 WHA T? 



It was a festival in Babylon, lasting five days, during which 
time the servants commanded their masters ; one of them 
being the chief over the house, and wearing a kind of 
royal robe called Zogama. We are not able to learn how 
often this festival was held. 

92. Westminster Abbey. — What men of fame are 
buried there ? Ans. Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, 
Thomas Gray, Benjamin Jonson, John Dryden. Matthew 
Prior, Michael Drayton, Barton Booth, Abraham Cowley, 
Thomas Campbell, Robert Southey, James Thomson, 
Nicholas Rowe, James Stuart Mackenzie, Sir Archibald 
Campbell, George Frederick Handel, Charles Dickens, 
Dr. Livingstone, the African explorer, John Gay, Joseph 
Addison, James Wyatt, David Garrick. 

93. Poets' Corner. — What is this part of the Abbey 
called ? Ans. The Poets' Corner. 

94. Temple of Janus. — What was it? Ans. It was 
a temple in Rome, dedicated to Janus, the Roman god 
of war. . It was built by the Emperor Numa, second king 
of Rome, by the advice of the goddess Egeria. It was 
to be shut in time of peace, and opened in time of war. 
It was closed during Numa's peaceful reign, during the 
peace between the first and second Punic wars, and when 
Christ was born. These are the only three times in the 
history of Rome when this celebrated temple was closed. 
At the time of our Saviour's birth it had not been shut 
during a period of over seven hundred years. Numa was 
a peaceful and virtuous king, and the later poets have de- 
lighted to dwell on the pure affection that existed between 
him and the nymph Egeria. They tell us that when the 
king served up a moderate repast to his guests on earthen- 
ware she suddenly changed the dishes into gold, and the 
plain food into the most sumptuous viands. They also 
add that when Numa died Egeria melted away in tears 
for his love, and was changed into a fountain. The 
pathetic story of Undine may have been taken in part 
from this legend. (See 148 in " Who?") 

95. Gray's " Elegy." — What poet was fifteen years 
writing a poem, and what was the poem? Ans. Thomas 
Gray; the poem was the "Elegy in a Country Church 
Yard." (See 23 in "What?") 



WHAT? 



345 



96. The Divine City. — What city was thus called, 
and why? Ans. Antioch, for Christianity was first intro- 
duced there. 

97. Paintings. — What city has the finest collection in 
the world ? Ans. Madrid, in Spain. 

98. Prado. — What palace holds them ? Ans. Palace of 
the Prado. It contains more than two thousand pictures 
already catalogued, all of them worthy a place on the walls. 
Among these are ten by Raphael, forty-three by Titian, 
thirty-four by Tintoretto, twenty-five by Paul Veronese, 
sixty-four by Rubens. Teniers has sixty in this wonderful 
museum. His pictures command fabulous sums by the 
square inch, and the Louvre considers itself rich with 
fourteen. So much for a few of the foreigners. Among 
the Spaniards the three greatest names could alone fill a 
gallery. There are sixty.-five by Velasquez, forty-four by 
Murillo, and fifty-eight by Riberas.* (See 6 in " How?") 

99. Crown Jewels of England. — What are they? 
Ans. 1. Crown of Victoria. This is a cap of purple vel- 
vet inclosed in a hoop of silver, surmounted by a ball and 
cross, all resplendent with diamonds. In the centre of 
the cross are the " inestimable sapphires" ; in front of the 
crown is the heart-shaped ruby said to have been worn 
by the Black Prince. 

2. St. Edward's Crown is made of gold, embellished 
with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls, and sapphires. 

3. The Prince of Wales' Crown. This is of pure gold, 
unadorned with jewels. 

4. The ancient Queen's Crown is used at coronations, 
for the queen consort. 

5. The Queen's Diadem. This was made for the con- 
sort of James II., Marie d'Este. It is richly adorned 
with large diamonds and pearls. Then there are six scep- 
tres, coronation bracelets and spurs, the anointing vessel 
and spoon, all used at coronations ; a baptismal font, 
used at the christening of the royal children ; various 
dishes, spoons, and other articles of gold, used at the 
coronations; a beautiful service of sacramental plate, also 
used at the same ceremony. 



* " Castilian Days," by John Hay. 



346 WHAT? 



ioo. Key of Greece. — What pass was thus called? 
Ans. Pass of Thermopylae. (See 78 in "What?") 

101. Book. — What was the first one ever printed in 
the English language? Ans. "The Recuyell of the His- 
tories of Troye." This was published at Cologne, 1471, 
by Caxton. (See 87 in "Who?") 

102. Suicide. — What celebrated men committed sui- 
cide ? Ans. Hugh Miller, Thomas Chatterton, Hannibal, 
Demosthenes, and Otho, the Roman emperor. 

1. Hugh Miller. (See 76 in "What?") 

2. Thojnas Chatterton. (See 2 in "What?") 

3. Hannibal. (See 32 in "What?") 

4. Demosthenes. (See 63 in "Who?") 

5. Otho. (See 218 in "Who?") 

103. Gray Hair. — What queen's hair turned gray in a 
single night ? Ans. Marie Antoinette's. 

Marie Antoinette was the daughter of the virtuous and 
heroic Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, 
and Empress of Germany as the wife of Francis I. She 
was born in Vienna, November 2, 1755. When very young 
(only fourteen), Marie Antoinette was affianced to the 
Dauphin of France, who came to the throne as Louis XVI. 
It is said that when her mother told her of her intended 
marriage she screamed out in terror, " Oh, my God !" and 
on Maria Theresa demanding in her imperial way the cause 
of her daughter's fright at learning her destiny, 'the young 
princess told her of the prophecy that her French teacher 
had related to her while reading the history of Catherine 
de Medicis. Catherine, though very learned, was a very 
superstitious woman. One of her astrologers owned a 
magic looking-glass, and on his bringing it before her she 
commanded him to show her the destiny of her royal 
house. In the mirror she saw the lily-decked throne of 
France, and upon it appeared, one after another, her sons 
Henry, Francis, and Charles; then came her hated son- 
in-law, Henry of Navarre ; after him Louis XIII. ; then 
his grandson, Louis XIV. ; then Louis XV. ; after which 
she saw nothing. She waited a few moments after Louis 
XV. had disappeared, and then she saw a figure with a 
crown upon his head ; but this figure was soon hidden by 
a cloud, and in his place the throne was filled with snakes, 



WHAT? 



347 



and cats who were tearing each other to pieces. Marie 
Antoinette was very beautiful, and gay in disposition ; in- 
deed, she was but a child when taken into France, and 
made herself distasteful to a great number of the people 
by her freedom in action and conversation. The etiquette 
of the court was tedious and tiresome to her, and she 
mortally wounded many of her best friends by banishing 
some of Madam Etiquette's strictest rules. She was witty 
and fascinating, and her sayings passed through the city 
as bon mots. She was married in Vienna, in the month 
of May, 1770, by proxy, and left Austria to meet her in- 
evitable fate. For a long time the dauphin was indiffer- 
ent to his young wife, but at last her winning ways won 
his heart, and he became devoted to her. It was at Marly 
that the queen, with all her court, sat up till three o'clock 
to see the sun rise. During the night they played a game 
of blindman's buff, which caused no small amount of scan- 
dal when it came to the ears of the older members of the 
court. After this Louis presented her with the Chateau 
de Trianon, where she retired often with only such friends 
as she chose to invite. Louis came to the throne in 1774, 
at the age of twenty. When this young couple were ap- 
prised of the death of the old king they exchanged glances 
of fear, and side by side fell upon their knees and, with 
streaming eyes, they faltered, " O God have mercy upon 
us, we are so young to reign." Marie Antoinette was 
beheaded on the 16th of October, 1793, anc * her husband, 
Louis, the previous 21st of January, 1793. She left a son, 
the Dauphin of France, who was always of a weak and 
sickly constitution, and died in his sixteenth year. The 
magnificent column of Luxor, originally standing in 
Thebes, which is over three thousand years old, now oc- 
cupies the place where Marie Antoinette was beheaded, 
in the very heart of the city of Paris. The troubles in 
France were brought about by the Jacobins, who were 
clamorous for the abolition of royalty, and accordingly 
the royal government was annihilated and France declared 
a republic on the 21st of September, 1792. Leonard was 
the hair-dresser of the queen, and invented the "coiffure 
a la Marie Antoinette," which set the French court in a 
furor of admiration. 



348 WHAT? 



104. Abbey and Palace of Holyrood, in Scot- 
land. — What associations are connected with them? 
Ans. In the abbey the young and beautiful Mary, Queen 
of Scots, was married to Lord Darnley, and Anne of Den- 
mark and her son Charles I. were crowned here. In the 
grand old palace, which was under the same inclosure, 
and stood at the foot of the Highlands, in the valley, is 
still to be seen Mary's large and airy bedroom, where her 
son James II. was born. Beyond the bedroom is her 
quaint boudoir, where her favorite Rizzio was killed while 
supping with her and some friends. 

Mary, Queen of Scots, was born on the 7th of De- 
cember, 1542, in the palace of Linlithgow. She was the 
third child of James V. and Mary of Guise. The death of 
her brothers in infancy made her heiress to the Scottish 
throne. Her father died seven days after her birth, in the 
palace of Falkland, and was considered one of the hand- 
somest men of his day. He was buried in the royal vault 
of the chapel of Holyrood House. Ere she was a year old 
Mary was crowned by Cardinal Beaton at Stirling Palace, 
on the 9th of September, 1543. The English ambassador 
was present at the coronation, and to correct a report that 
was afloat to the effect that the young queen was sickly, 
her mother had her undressed and shown him, when he 
declared her to be as " goodly a child of her age as- he 
had ever seen." When two years of age she had the 
smallpox, but the loathsome disease touched her gently, 
not in the least marring her wonderful beauty, which won 
all hearts throughout her life. Her mother, Mary of Lor- 
raine, daughter to the Duke of Guise, was the widow of 
the Duke of Longueville when she married James V. 
She possessed a bold, masculine understanding, and to her 
entire charge as queen-dowager was the early education 
of Mary given. She was early betrothed to Francis, the 
young Dauphin of France, through the influence of the 
Earl of Arran and Mary of Guise, whose sympathies were 
with the French and not with the English. Scotland was 
torn with strife for the regency, which was finally given to 
the Earl of Arran. While these contentions were rife, 
Mary was removed for safe-keeping to Inchmanhome, a 
retired island in the lake of Monteith. To bear her com- 



WHAT? 



349 



pany in this remote region she was appointed four young 
companions, and these were all Marys, — Mary Beaton, 
niece of Cardinal Beaton, Mary Fleming, daughter of 
Lord Fleming, Mary Livingston, whose father was one 
of the queen's guardians, and Mary Seaton, daughter of 
Lord Seaton. These young girls of noble birth were her 
associates in play and study, and when in her fifth year 
she was sent to France to be educated, these Marys and 
her three natural brothers accompanied her. Thirteen of 
the happiest years of her life were passed in ''homeless" 
France, the bright memories of which followed her in the 
days to come. She landed at Brest on the 14th of August, 
1548, and was received with all the honors due her rank 
and her royal destiny. She traveled by easy stages to the 
palace at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Soon after her arrival 
she was sent with Henry II. 's own daughters to one of the 
first convents in France. She made rapid progress in her 
studies, mastering easily the tasks which were set for her 
to accomplish. She even enjoyed the dull monotony of 
a convent life, finding pleasure where others could see 
nothing but stupidity and dullness. At this time France 
was in the height of her glory, and men of letters and 
science ruled the land. The Cardinal of Lorraine, Mary's 
own uncle, discovering her natural capabilities, directed 
her studies with the greatest watchfulness. She was a fine 
French, Latin, and Italian scholar. She could all her life 
speak French as readily as English, and write it with as 
great rapidity as she could talk it. Catherine de Medicis, 
wife of Henry II., was then in the bloom of youth, when 
her envy and ambition had not betrayed itself. Much of 
Mary's time was passed at Fontainebleau, wandering in the 
delightful woods and gardens, sailing on the lakes, min- 
gling in the magnificent galas and fetes in which Henry 
and Catherine so much delighted. Mary enjoyed follow- 
ing the hounds, and excelled in the Spanish minuet, a 
favorite dance at the time. On the 24th of April, 1558, 
Mary was married to Francis, who was nearly of her own 
age, in the grand old church of Notre Dame, the cere- 
mony being performed by the Cardinal of Bourbon, 
Archbishop of Rouen. It was one of the most imposing 
spectacles that had ever been witnessed in Paris. Francis 

30 



35° 



WHAT? 



was greatly her inferior in personal appearance and in 
mental endowments ; he was of a weakly constitution, 
timid, affectionate, amiable, and shy. He was devoted to 
his young bride, and lavished on her his whole wealth of 
tenderness and love, trying to show how thankful he was 
to her for her having married him in all the flush of her 
rich young life and exceeding great beauty. She is de- 
scribed as a woman above the common size, with dark 
yellow or auburn hair, eyes that were chestnut, com- 
plexion perfect, with a faint tinge on the cheek, and her 
carriage graceful and dignified. On the death of Mary 
Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII. of England, the young 
queen of the Scots was made to claim succession to the 
English throne by her ambitious and intriguing uncles, 
the Guises. Her right to it was the following, — Henry 
VIII. was her maternal grand-uncle, and if his wives 
Catherine and Anne Boleyn (see 80 in "What?") were 
legally divorced, then their children, Mary and Elizabeth, 
had no right to the throne after Edward VI.'s death, but 
it belonged to the young Scottish queen. The English 
Parliament, however, on the death of Edward, declared 
these children legitimate, as the voice of the nation 
clamored for them and not for a Scottish rule. This was 
the cause of the enmity that always existed between the 
cousins, Mary of Scotland and Elizabeth of England. 
The former, after her marriage, was living quietly in a 
princely summer residence, unostentatiously discharging 
the duties of a faithful and attentive wife to a man who 
did not care for society, and who shrank from contact 
with the great world, when Henry II. was accidentally 
wounded in the head by a spear in a tournament, and died 
from the effects of the wound some eight days afterwards, 
and Francis was suddenly brought to the royal purple. 
Mary was then made to take the lead in European circles. 
This the proud Catherine de Medicis did not relish, being 
supplanted by a woman young enough to be her daughter, 
and so gracious and attractive that every court rang with 
her praise. In September, 1559, Francis II. was crowned 
at Rheims ; but his health failing him soon after, he reigned 
only some seventeen months, when he died at Orleans, in 
the seventeenth year of his age. Catherine de Medicis 



WHAT, 



351 



again found herself by this event at the bead of the wheel 
of fortune, as she contrived to be appointed guardian of 
her son, Charles IX., who was only ten years old when he 
succeeded his brother Francis. The second time queen 
of France, Catherine's jealousies knew no bounds, and 
she made the court very uncomfortable for the widow of 
eighteen. Mary had lost her mother, buried the father-in- 
law and husband who were devotedly attached to her, and 
been deprived of the assistance and counsel of her uncles, 
the Guises, whom Catherine had banished from court. 
New suitors at once sought her hand, among them Don 
Carlos of Spain and the King of Navarre, but she deter- 
mined not to form any matrimonial ties until the plans of 
her future course were fully arranged. Some of her Scotch 
nobles soon came over to France to see if she would not 
return to her own country, and to intercede with her in 
behalf of their religion, both parties, the Reformers and 
the Romanists, wishing to ingratiate themselves into her 
favor. Mary decided to return to England, and Eliza- 
beth learning of her intention, concluded she would 
settle with her before her departure one or two of their 
mutual disagreements. Mary refused to ratify the famous 
treaty of Edinburgh, which, among other things, stipu- 
lated that she should give up all right to the English 
crown, not only during the life of Elizabeth, " but for all 
time to come." This Mary firmly refused to do, as the 
crown would rightfully belong to her in case Elizabeth 
died without issue, or anything should happen to her be- 
fore marriage. Elizabeth possessing the command of the 
seas, refused Mary a free passage from France to Scotland, 
that common etiquette demanded of her, imagining that 
she could prevent her return if she so chose. When 
Mary sent an ambassador to England to ask it, Elizabeth 
denied it to her, saying unless she signed the Edinburgh 
treaty she should not have the free passage. In August, 
1561, she left France independent of Elizabeth's permis- 
sion, accompanied as far as Saint-Germain by Catherine de 
Medicis and most of the French court. She shed bitter 
tears at leaving France, exclaiming, as the last glimpse of 
land was seen, " Farewell, beloved France ! I shall never, 
never see thee more!" She landed in Scotland with a 



352 



WHAT? 



mind filled with anxiety and uncertainty. She came alone 
and unprotected to assume the governmenr of a country 
which had long been distinguished for its rebellious tur- 
bulence, and she only nineteen years old ! Contrary to 
her expectations, she was royally received, and welcomed 
by the Scots in the warmest manner. She was taken the 
second day after her arrival at Leith to Holvrood Palace, 
in Edinburgh, where feasts and entertainments without 
number were prepared for her. Some of these shocked the 
puritanical ideas of John Knox, who was then exhorting 
in the Scottish capital. The Earl of Murray, to whom she 
intrusted so much, was her own brother, who had gone to 
France at first with her, and of whom she was very fond. 
Murray was double-faced and treacherous to his sovereign, 
allowing himself in all matters of importance to be guided 
by the wishes of Elizabeth — secretly conveyed to him — ■ 
as by those of his own sister. The queen was passionately 
fond of music, and it was for this reason that she had 
David Rizzio attached to her household. He came to 
Edinburgh in the end of the year 1561, in the suite of 
the ambassador from Savoy. She had a band of a dozen 
musicians, Vocal and instrumental, whom she always kept 
near her person. Rizzio was finely educated, polished, and 
ready in wit, soft and winning in manners, but "abun- 
dantly ugly." When Rizzio came to Scotland, the queen's 
three pages who sang trios for her wanted a fourth as bass, 
and he being recommended received the appointment, 
with a salary of eighty pounds yearly. David made him- 
self useful in many ways, and in 1564 was given the 
French secretaryship, which he held till the time of his 
death. In Mary's wardrobe it is mentioned that she had 
ten pair of hose woven of gold, silver, and silk, and three 
pair woven of worsted of Guernsey. Silk stockings were 
then a rarity. The first pair worn in England were sent 
as a present to Elizabeth from France. It was only after 
performing duties of a severer kind that the queen in- 
dulged in recreation. She passed regularly some hours 
every day with her privy council, and, with her work- 
table beside her and her needle in her hand, heard and 
offered opinions upon the various affairs of state. To 
the poor she was very attentive, and herself benevolently 



WHAT? 353 



superintended the education of a number of poor chil- 
dren. To her female companions she was attentive and 
kind. Her establishment was neither extraordinary nor 
extravagant, certainly not in comparison to her English 
cousin. She had very little plate, but a profusion of rare 
and valuable jewels. She was fond of tapestry, and the 
walls of her chambers were hung with the richest speci- 
mens she could bring from her loved France. Her cloth 
of gold, her Turkey carpets, her beds and coverlids, her 
table-cloths, crystal, chairs and footstools, were all cele- 
brated in their day. From time to time Mary continued 
to have suitors for her hand, from French, German, and 
Austrian princes ; but though she had decided to marry 
again, Elizabeth was opposed to these different powers 
becoming interested in Scotland, and as Mary wished to 
keep on the right side of her cousin if possible, she re- 
fused them all, and finally settled on her own cousin, 
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. He, next to Mary, claimed 
succession to the crown that Elizabeth wore so securely, 
and in uniting her fortunes to his she joined the house 
of the Stuarts and the Tudors. She was four years his 
senior, but invited him into Scotland, when his handsome 
face and fine manners won her heart. They were married 
on Sunday, between five and six in the morning, on the 
29th of July, 1565, in the chapel of Holyrood. It is said 
that a handsomer couple had never been seen in Scotland. 
Lord Darnley was of a headstrong and violent temper, 
bitterly opposed to the Earl of Murray, who was just as 
great a foe to him, and they soon came to arms. Eliza- 
beth, too, after she found Mary was bent on marrying 
Lord Darnley, forbade the marriage, though she had no 
right to do so, and though she had encouraged it till she 
was sure it would take place, — an old trick of hers. 
Mary had been Darnley's wife only a few months when 
she learned her mistake in uniting herself to a youth 
— he was nineteen — so weak, headstrong, and inexpe- 
rienced. He wanted the whole control of the empire, 
and shamefully treated her because she would not consent 
to his demands. He was intemperate, grossly licentious, 
and passionately fond of his hawks and hounds. In these 
dark days Mary's chief friend and adviser was her secre- 

30* 



354 



WHAT? 



tary and musician, Rizzio, who was a great friend of 
Darnley's before his marriage, but seeing his treatment of 
his wife, turned against him, and advised Mary not to 
give her rule into his hands. This so incensed Darnley 
that, with some of his principal nobility, he surprised 
them when at supper together, and stabbed Rizzio in the 
presence of the queen. On the 19th of June, 1566, 
Mary was delivered of a son, in Holyrood Castle. For 
two months before James VI. was born Murray and Argyle 
were the only persons in addition to the king allowed to 
reside in the castle with Mary. It was her own wish to 
have her husband and her two brothers beside her at the 
birth of the expected heir. Throughout Scotland the 
intelligence was received with sincere joy, but Elizabeth 
groaned, and said " she was but a barren stock, while the 
Queen of Scotland had a son." On the 19th of December 
of the same year the young prince was baptized at Stirling 
Castle, with all the pomp and magnificence that his future 
prospects warranted. Ambassadors came from England, 
Piedmont, France, and Savoy to be present at the cere- 
mony, and Elizabeth sent a font of gold valued at one 
thousand pounds. On the 9th of February, 1567, a year 
from the time Rizzio was murdered, Lord Darnley was 
blown up with gunpowder in a private house in Edinburgh, 
where he was ill at the time. He would not stay at Holy- 
rood Palace, for he could not agree with Mary's ministers. 
It is generally conceded that this plot was contrived by 
the Earl of Bothwell, though he was acquitted by the 
nobles of his own and the queen's party. In about 
two months later Mary imprudently married Bothwell, 
thus giving her accusers reason to think if she was not an 
accomplice to her husband's death she did not oppose it. 
The truth of it is this. After Lord Darnley's death the 
queen retired to Stirling Castle to visit her son, and on 
her return from there, Bothwell left Edinburgh with one 
thousand men, and forcibly seized his sovereign and the 
few nobles who were with her, and carried them to his 
own palace of Dunbar, where he held her a prisoner for 
ten days, till she promised to marry him. The Scottish 
historians call this the " ravishment" of Mary, and assert 
she was obliged to marry this powerful earl to save her 



WHAT? 355 



own honor from being tarnished. They were married 
on the 15th of May, 1567, not in the queen's chapel by a 
Roman cardinal, but in the council-chamber by a re- 
formed minister. This hasty conduct on the part of 
Mary occasioned a revolt of the chief nobility and her 
best subjects, by whom she was taken prisoner, compelled 
to resign her crown, and her son James VI. was called to 
the sovereignty. Soon after this event she escaped from 
prison, and raised an army to oppose her brother Murray, 
who had assumed the regency, but she was defeated, and 
rashly fled to England, in 1568, where she expected pro- 
tection and security from her false friend and cousin, 
Elizabeth. The Earl of Murray was bent on her de- 
struction. She had condemned him a number of times, 
but her heart softening towards this favorite brother she 
as often pardoned him. This unwillingness to punish her 
enemies, and her full belief in their repentance, was the 
cause of the most of this unhappy woman's troubles. 
Elizabeth secretly rejoiced at finding her hated rival in 
her own kingdom and in her power, and, as one might 
have expected from her, she proved false to her profes- 
sions of friendship, and retained the Scottish queen a pris- 
oner for eighteen long, weary years. Under pretense of 
doing justice to Mary, she had her cause inquired into 
at a conference at York. Though nothing was proved 
against her, she kept her. in the closest confinement. 
During the Scottish queen's unjust retention by the Eng- 
lish sovereign, she naturally desired, and her friends for 
her, a release. The latter entered into a plot for this pur- 
pose, which failing, Mary was held responsible, and though 
an independent queen, was tried by a foreign power. 
Presumed only to be guilty, she was condemned, and 
soon after brutally beheaded in Fotheringay Castle, in 
the forty-fifth year of her reign, and the nineteenth of her 
captivity. After sentence had been pronounced against 
her, every badge of royalty was removed from her room, 
and she was informed that she was no longer to be treated 
as a princess, but as a criminal. Even the persons who 
came into her presence stood before her without uncover- 
ing their heads, and she was denied a Romish priest, an 
Episcopal bishop being sent in place to point out to her 



356 WHAT? 



the errors of her ways. She bore all these indignities 
with the greatest meekness, and " thanked God her 
troubles were nearly at an end." On the 8th of Febru- 
ary, 1587, at eight o'clock in the morning, she was be- 
headed, having only been told of it the night before. 
She calmly supped with her domestics that same night, 
wrote till two o'clock in the morning, making her will 
and arrangements for her burial ; then she went to bed, 
but not to sleep. She requested that her body might be 
sent to France, and either buried in the church of St. 
Denis, in Paris, beside the body of her first husband, 
Francis, or at Rheims, in the tomb which contained the 
remains of her mother, Mary of Guise. This, as well as 
all other requests that she made, was denied her. She 
was embalmed, and buried with royal pomp in the cathe- 
dral of Peterborough ; this by Elizabeth's procurement, to 
stifle the twinges of conscience she had after the execu- 
tion was over. Twenty-five years later James VI. had 
her remains removed to Henry VII. 's Chapel in West- 
minster Abbey. Her servants were not allowed to accom- 
pany her to the scaffold, Elizabeth, with her usual kind- 
ness of heart, having given orders that she was to proceed 
alone. Mary was resolved that some of her people should 
see her die, and insisted with such vehemence that at last 
she was allowed to name four male and two female attend- 
ants, who were to remain with her to the last. The exe- 
cution was to take place in the same hall where she had 
been tried, and the scaffold, covered with a black cloth 
and elevated some two feet from the floor, occupied the 
extreme end of the room. A chair was placed on it for 
the Queen of Scots. On one side of the block stood two 
executioners, and on the other the Earls of Shrewsbury 
and Kent ; Beale, who had read the warrant for her exe- 
cution, and the sheriff were immediately behind. The 
scaffold was railed off from the rest of the hall, in which 
were some two hundred guards, including a few gentlemen 
from the neighborhood. The queen entered with all the 
dignity of a Roman matron, leaning on the arm of her 
physician, Sir Andrew Melville carrying the train of her 
robe. She was in full dress, and looked as if about to 
hold a court reception rather than to give her head to the 



WHAT? 



357 



axe. She wore a gown of richest black silk, bordered 
with crimson velvet, over which was a satin mantle ; a 
long veil of white crape, stiffened with wire and edged 
with rich lace, hung down almost on the ground ; on her 
neck she wore an ivory crucifix, and her rosary hung at 
her side. With a composed and steady step she passed 
through the hall and ascended the scaffold, where she 
threw herself on her knees, and prayed fervently aloud. 
When her prayers were ended she prepared her head for 
the block, and mildly reproved her two female attendants 
for the agitation they showed when taking off her veil 
and removing her head-dress. She desired her faithful 
Jane Kennedy to bind her eyes with a rich handkerchief, 
bordered with gold, which she had brought with her for 
that purpose. Her last words were, after declaring she 
died a true Romanist, " O Lord, in Thee I have hoped, 
and into Thy hands I commit my spirit." The axe was 
drawn three times before the head was separated from the 
body. When it is remembered that Mary was only twenty- 
five when so unjustly detained in England, and that all 
the important events of her life happened between this 
age and sixteen, surely many of her faults can be par- 
doned, and a more charitable feeling shown her memory. 

105. The " Great Conversationalist." — What poet 
was thus called? Ans. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. (See 
40 in "What?") 

106. Henry Kirke White. — What English poet was 
a butcher's son? 1 Ans. Henry Kirke White. 

Henry Kirke White was the son of a butcher of Not- 
tingham, and was born in that place in 1785. From a 
very early age he showed a strong taste for knowledge, 
and at the age of seven tried his hand at prose composi- 
tion. At school he greatly distinguished himself among 
his companions, displaying wonderful powers of acquisi- 
tion. But his father intended to bring him up to his own 
business, and one whole day in every week, and his leisure 
hours on other days, were employed in carrying the 
butcher's basket. This, however, proved so irksome to 
him that, at the request of his mother, he was appren- 
ticed to a stocking-weaver to prepare himself for the 
hosiery line. This was scarcely less distasteful to the 



358 WHAT? 



young aspirant than his father's occupation, and after a 
year his mother, a woman of superior intelligence, who 
early perceived his genius and sympathized with it, found 
means of placing him in the office of Coldham & Enfield, 
attorneys of Nottingham. He devoted himself with dili- 
gence to his profession during the day, and passed his 
evenings in learning the Latin, Greek, and Italian lan- 
guages, together with chemistry, astronomy, drawing, and 
music. To these acquirements he soon added practical 
mechanics. A London magazine, the "Monthly Precep- 
tor," having proposed prize themes for the youth of both 
sexes, Henry became a candidate, and while only in his 
fifteenth year obtained a silver medal for a translation 
from Horace, and the next year a pair of twelve-inch 
globes for an imaginary tour from London to Edinburgh. 
In 1803 appeared a volume of his poems. The statement 
in the preface that they were written by a youth of seven- 
teen, and published to enable him to get the means to aid 
him in his studies, should have disarmed the severity of 
criticism ; yet the poems were contemptuously mentioned 
in the " Monthly Review." This treatment young White 
felt very keenly. ' But the book fell into the hands of the 
poet Southey, who most kindly and generously wrote to 
White to encourage him, and very soon friends sprang up, 
who gave him such substantial assistance that he was en- 
abled to enter the University of Cambridge, — his greatest 
ambition. Hitherto his religious opinions had inclined 
to Deism, but a friend having put into his hands "Scott's 
Force of Truth," an entire change was wrought by it in 
his whole character. A most decided and earnest piety 
now entered his soul, and he resolved to devote his life to 
the cause of religion, and, with his other studies, he now 
took up that of divinity. His application w r as indeed so 
intense that a severe illness was the result, on his recovery 
from which he produced those beautiful lines written in 
Milford church-yard. Poetry was abandoned for severer 
studies. He distinguished himself so greatly at Cam- 
bridge, that at the end of the term he was pronounced 
the first man of his year. But his severe application 
ruined his health, and he had to go to London to recruit 
his shattered nerves and spirit. But it was too late. He 



WHAT? 



359 



returned to college, renewed his studies with unabated 
labor, and sank under the effect. He grew delirious, and 
died on the 19th of October, 1806, in his twenty-first year. 

107. Rasselas. — What great novel was written to de- 
fray the funeral expenses of the author's mother? Ans. 
"Rasselas," written by Dr. Johnson in the evenings of 
one week. Johnson told Sir Joshua Reynolds that he 
sent it to press in portions, as it was written, and had 
never since read it over. The publishers gave him an 
additional twenty-five pounds after it reached the second 
edition. The mother died in 1759. (See 90 in " Who?") 

108. Carthage. — What city was the greatest rival 
Rome ever had? Ans. Carthage. (See 79 in "Who?") 

109. Key of Egypt. — What ancient city was thus 
called? Ans. Pelusium. 

no. Pope's Palace at Rome. — What is it called? 
Ans. The Vatican. 

The Vatican is a collection of buildings on one of the 
seven hills of Rome, which covers a space of twelve hun- 
dred feet in length and one thousand feet in breadth. It 
is built on the spot once occupied by the garden of the 
Emperor Nero, so noted for his cruelty. It owes its ori- 
gin to the Bishop of Rome, who, in the early part of the 
sixth century, erected a humble residence on the site 
where the magnificent pile now stands. About the year 
1 160 Pope Eugenius rebuilt it on a superb scale. Inno- 
cent II., a few years afterwards, gave it up as a lodging 
to Peter II., King of Aragon. In 1305 Clement V., at 
the instigation of the King of France, removed the Papal 
See from Rome to Avignon, when the Vatican remained 
in a condition of obscurity and neglect for more than 
seventy years. But soon after the return of the Pontifi- 
cal Court to Rome, which occurred in 1376, the Vatican 
was put into a state of repair, again enlarged, and it was 
thenceforth considered as a regular palace and residence of 
the Popes, who, one after the other, added fresh buildings 
to it, and gradually encircled it with antiquities, statues, 
pictures, and books, until it became the richest deposi- 
tory in the world. The library of the Vatican was com- 
menced fourteen hundred years ago. It contains forty 
thousand manuscripts, among which are some by Pliny, 



360 WHAT? 



St. Thomas, St. Charles Borromeo, and many Hebrew, 
Syrian, Arabian, and Armenian Bibles. All of the im- 
mense buildings composing the Vatican are filled with 
the statues found beneath the ruins of ancient Rome; 
with paintings by the masters, and curious medals ; with 
mummies and antiquities of almost every description. 
Over seventy thousand statues have been exhumed from 
the ruined temples and palaces of Rome, and all of these 
are in the Vatican. Raphael's glorious "Transfigura- 
tion" is here in a room almost by itself. This and the 
" Laocoon" would make a nation's wealth in themselves, 
to say nothing of the other ancient wonders that this 
marvelous palace holds. 

in. Rosa Bonheur. — What female artist is a great 
animal-painter? Ans. Rosa Bonheur. 

Rosa Bonheur was born at Bordeaux, in France, in 
1822. She is the daughter of an artist, and belongs to a 
family distinguished for its artistic pursuits. One brother, 
Auguste, is a painter, and another, Isidore, a sculptor, 
while her sister, Juliette, wife of M. Peyrol, is also a user 
of the brush and palette. In 1841 Rosa exhibited, in her 
nineteenth year, two small pictures, entitled "Two Rab- 
bits" and " Sheep and Goats." Together with her sister 
she acts as directress of a gratuitous School of Design for 
girLs, committed to her charge by the city of Paris in 
1849. I" tn l s same year appeared one of her greatest 
pictures, "Ploughing in the Nivernais," and the death of 
her father. Her " Horse Fair" is in the Luxembourg, and 
was engraved by the elder Landseer. She has a city farm- 
yard, where she keeps live-stock; and a visit to her studio 
includes a vis : t to her familiar friends, cows, sheep, horses, 
etc. From youth to middle age she has been a faithful 
student, devoted to her art. She goes in men's clothes to 
study anatomy in the shambles, and is very careless and 
slovenly in her dress, even appearing in public with the 
same "rig" in which she has painted the entire day. 
This will sometimes be spotted with drops of blood, which 
she has received in her visits to the slaughter-houses. She 
is loaded with commissions, and sometimes paid as much 
as eight hundred pounds for a slight water-color sketch. 
With all her eccentricities, she is a woman of perfectly 



WHAT? 361 



pure and unsullied character, simple in her personal habits, 
kind, generous, and helpful to her neighbors. She has 
never married. 

112. Babylon. — What was the height of its walls? 
Ans. Three hundred and fifty feet ; they were eighty- seven 
feet thick. The walls surrounding Nineveh were one 
hundred feet high. 

113. Cathay. — What country was thus called? Ans. 
China. This name was given it by Marco Polo, the great 
Venetian traveler. 

Marco Polo was born about 1254, and died near 1324. 
In 1 271 he traveled with his father and his uncle Maffeo 
from Italy to the East, passing through Palestine, travers- 
ing the northern part of Persia, journeying by the city 
of Balkh and visiting many parts of Tartary. They fol- 
lowed no direct track, so it is impossible to describe their 
route. After four years' constant journeying they came 
to Cambabu, in 1275, the capital of Cathay, — probably 
Pekin ; here they were met by an escort and conducted 
to the imperial city. Marco Polo was appointed by the 
Khan to an office about his person ; then was made am- 
bassador to neighboring chiefs, which missions he con- 
ducted with so much prudence and discretion that he rose 
rapidly to great distinction. He was the first to make 
known to Europeans the existence of Japan. He was 
captured in an engagement against the Genoese, when in 
command of a galley, was carried prisoner to Genoa, and 
was kept in close confinement four or five years before 
he was liberated. During his captivity he dictated to 
a fellow-prisoner, by the aid of notes which he had writ- 
ten previously, the account of his extensive travels, which 
was finished in 1298. This valuable work has appeared in 
all the principal European languages. 

114. Musical Composers. — What great musical com- 
posers were childless? Ans. Handel, Haydn, Corelli, 
Beethoven, Pergolesi, Rossini. In our time, Auber, Wag- 
ner, and Schumann. 

1. George Frederick Handel was born at Halle, 

in Prussian Saxony, on the 24th of February, 1684. His 

father was an eminent physican, and as he. intended his 

son to follow the law, he commanded him to give up his 

Q 3 1 



362 WHAT? 



music, and forbade his touching a musical instrument. 
Young Handel got a little clavichord, which he had se- 
cretly carried to the attic, and here, after the family had 
gone to rest, he would labor long after midnight over his 
loved task, until he had made great progress in his favorite 
pursuit. When only nine years old he could j)lay the 
organ in the cathedral of Halle as well as his master, 
Zachau. He is considered one of the most excellent, 
profound, and original of musical composers. By some 
critics Handel is regarded as the greatest composer that 
ever lived. In early childhood he manifested a ruling 
passion for music, and composed sonatas at the age of 
ten. In 1703 he became connected with the Opera of 
Hamburg, where the next year he produced his opera of 
" Almeria" with great success. In 1708 he visited Italy, 
and composed his first Italian opera, "Rodrigo," which 
was performed at Florence. In 1710 he went to England, 
and wrote the music for the opera " Rinaldo," which was 
greatly admired. Two years later he settled in England, 
and in 1714 became chapel-master of George I. Sacred 
music is the chief foundation of his celebrity, and his 
masterpieces are his oratorio of "Saul" and his sublime 
" Messiah." Among his other oratorios are " Samson," 
"Moses in Egypt," "Joshua," and " Jephthah," whose 
words are English. He lost nearly his entire fortune, 
ten thousand pounds, in an unsuccessful attempt to sup- 
port an opera-house, after having resigned the direction 
of the Academy of Music, founded by the English no- 
bility. In 1 75 1 he became blind, but continued for 
several years to conduct his oratorios in public concerts. 
He died in April, 1759, and was buried in Westminster 
Abbey. Handel was chiefly pre-eminent in majesty and 
sublimity of conception. 

2. Joseph Haydn, a celebrated and original com- 
poser, was born at Rohrau, on the frontier of Austria and 
Hungary, March 31, 1732. His father was a poor me- 
chanic, and his mother before her marriage was a cook in 
the family of Count Harrach, the lord of the village. 
Haydn had a remarkable voice, which attracted the at- 
tention of Reuter, the chapel-master of the cathedral 
church in Vienna, and when only eight years of age was 



WHAT? 363 



taken as a chorister, and remained with Reuter until his 
sixteenth year. At this age, his delicate and sonorous 
voice, having been strained too young, — he would prac- 
tice from twelve to sixteen hours a day, — gave way, and 
he was obliged to leave the choir of St. Stephen's. Af- 
terwards being left to his own resources, he endured ex- 
treme poverty for several years, during which he formed 
a friendship with the poet Metastasio, from whom he 
learned Italian. Between the ages of nineteen and twenty- 
six Haydn composed many sonatas, concertos, and sym- 
phonies, which were much admired. In 1760 he received 
the appointment of chapel-master to Prince Esterhazy, at 
Eisenstadt. With this prince and his heir he passed 
about thirty years, during which time he married an Ann 
Keller, whose father had befriended him in his days of 
poverty. The union proved an unhappy one; the great 
musician's temperament was all harmony, but his wife, 
alas ! gave the one discordant tone, which so jarred on 
his finely attuned nature that he was obliged to end it 
by a divorce. Having composed a great number of works 
and acquired a wide reputation, he produced in London 
in 1 79 1 six grand symphonies, which were received with 
great enthusiasm. His noble masterpiece, the oratorio 
of "The Creation," was performed in Vienna in 1798, 
and procured his admission into the French Institute. 
He surpassed his predecessors in symphonies, and dis- 
played extraordinary fertility of invention. Among his 
last works is a piece of church music called "The Sea- 
sons." Haydn died at Vienna, May 31, 1809. He ap- 
pears to have been exempt from a spirit of rivalry and 
envy. On one occasion he designated Mozart as the first 
composer in the world. 

3. Arcangelo Corelli was a famous Italian musical 
composer and performer, born at Fusignano, near Imola, 
in 1653. He published in Rome, in 1683, n ^ s & rst 
work, "Twelve Sonatas for two Violins and a Bass." 
In 1686 he was leader of an orchestra of one hundred and 
fifty musicians, in an opera performed at Rome under the 
auspices of Christiana of Sweden. His reputation had 
then extended over Europe. He was patronized by Car- 
dinal Ottoboni, who appointed him director of his music. 



364 WHAT? 



Among his most popular productions is " Concerti 
Grossi." He died in 1713. 

4. Ludwig von Beethoven was a celebrated Ger- 
man musical composer, and born at Bonn, in Prussia, on 
the 17th of December, 1770. His father was a tenor in 
the Elector of Cologne's chapel, and had five children, 
among whom the subject of our sketch comes in second. 
When only five years of age he began the study of music, 
and even then his powers of execution and of improvisa- 
tion on the piano astonished every hearer. He went to 
Vienna, in 1793, to finish his studies under Haydn, but 
as he was about to start for England, he placed Beethoven 
under the tuition of Albrechtsberger, under whom he 
made great and rapid progress. He concluded to make 
Vienna his home, and while there he gained a high repu- 
tation by his extempore fantasias. Desiring to offer hom- 
age to the genius of Napoleon, he commenced in 1802 
a symphony for that purpose. This masterpiece of art 
and science, in which the genius of the artist is revealed 
in its greatest majesty, was not finished till 1804. It is 
said that when he was about to send it to Napoleon he 
learned that he had usurped imperial power, for which 
reason he changed the title of the piece to " Sinfonia 
eroica." In 1805 he produced the celebrated opera of 
"Leonore," or "Fidelio." He composed many sym- 
phonies, sonatas, quintets, quartets, and overtures, which 
attest the originality and sublimity of his genius. Bee- 
thoven was a very quiet, reserved man, going little into 
society, and unhappily mistrusted those by whom he was 
surrounded. He tells us that the cause of his miserable 
and wretched life was owing to his great deafness, which 
had become almost total in his twenty-eighth year. He 
always carried a small book with him, and what conversa- 
tion passed was carried on in writing. He was exceed- 
ingly negligent in his personal appearance, and like an- 
other Turner cared nothing for the impressions he made 
on those with whom he came in contact. "His features 
were strong and prominent, his eye full of a rude energy, 
and his hair, which neither comb nor scissors seemed ever 
to have visited, overshadowed his broad brow in a quan- 
tity and confusion to which only the snakes around a Gor- 



WHAT? 365 



gon's head offer a parallel." He never married. He died 
in Vienna on the 26th of March, 1827, in the fifty-seventh 
year of his age. 

5. Pergolesi was a celebrated ItaTian composer, and 
born at Jesi about 1708; some authorities say in 1704. 
He studied at Naples, under Gaetano Greco and Durante. 
In 1 731 he produced a dramatic work called " The Ser- 
vant Mistress," which was warmly applauded. He devoted 
himself chiefly to sacred music. Among his works is a 
celebrated and pathetic " Stabat Mater," for two voices; 
"Dixit Dominus," a motet ; and "Salve Regina," also 
a motet. His death is variously dated ; we find it given 
in 1736, 1737, and 1739. According to a biography 
which appeared in 1831, written by the Marchese di Vil- 
larose, his name is Giovanni Battista Pergolese, and he was 
born at ten o'clock at night, on the 3d of January, 17 10, 
and died at Pazzuoli, near Naples, where he had retired 
for the benefit of his health, of pulmonary consumption, 
on the 16th of March, 1736. 

6. Gioacchimo Rossini, an Italian musician, was 
born at Pesaro, in the Papal States, on the 29th of Febru- 
ary, 1792. His father was a horn-blower, and his mother 
an actress or singer, in an itinerant opera company. 
Rossini is considered the most celebrated musical com- 
poser of the present century. He formed his style chiefly 
by the study of Mozart and Haydn. In 181 2 he produced 
" The Fortunate Deceit," and several other operas. 
His most famous work was the opera of "Tancredi" 
(1813), which, performed first at Venice, was received 
with great enthusiasm and announced the advent of a new 
epoch in dramatic music. In 1815 he was engaged for a 
term of seven years as musical director of the theatre of 
San Carlo at Naples. The next year appeared his "Bar- 
ber of Seville," which is perhaps the most popular of all 
his works, and has been performed in many languages 
and in every theatre in the civilized world. His " Moses 
in Egypt" was published in 1818. He married Made- 
moiselle Colbran, a singer, about 1822, and the next year 
left Italy. He went to Paris, and while there was elected 
director of the Italian opera from 1824 to 1830. During 
this period he wrote his beautiful opera of " William 

31* 



3 66 WHAT? 



Tell," which by connoisseurs has been pronounced the 
greatest that he ever composed. It was also his last. He 
said of it, "Another success would add nothing to my 
celebrity, and a failure might impair it." Towards the 
latter part of his life he grew very indolent, and died in 
Paris, November, 1868. He passed many years of his life 
in Bologna, but Paris was the city of all others that he pre- 
ferred, and which he made his permanent home after 1855. 

7. Daniel Francois Esprit Auber is an eminent 
French musical composer, and was born at Caen in Janu- 
ary, 1784. He was a pupil of Cherubini. His first pro- 
duction, " Le Sejour militaire," in 1813, was coldly re- 
ceived, but his comic opera, "La Bergere Chatelaine," 
seven years later, was a complete success. In partnership 
with Eugene Scribe, he composed the music of many 
popular operas which are remarkable for originality and 
grace. His opera "La Muette de Portici," commonly 
known as " Masaniello," had great success, and is gener- 
ally considered his masterpiece. Among his most popu- 
lar comic operas are " Fra Diavolo," " Lestocq," " Le 
Domino noir," and "Haydee." In 1829 Auber was 
chosen a member of the Institute. • 

8. Richard Wagner is a distinguished German musi- 
cian and composer, and was born at Leipsic in 181 3. He 
was appointed chapel-master at Dresden in 1843. Among 
his principal works are the operas of " Rienzi," " Tann- 
hauser," " Lohengrin," and his opera of " Der Ring des 
Nibelungen," brought out at Baireuth, in Bavaria, in 
August of 1876. This opera was written some twenty 
years ago, and Wagner built a theatre in the little city 
of Baireuth, at an expense of some forty-five thousand 
pounds, in which to give to the world his strange and 
unique ideas of how an opera should be put upon the 
boards. He is said to have spent his entire fortune in 
this venture, which occupied four evenings of the music- 
loving public. Wagner married a daughter of the great 
Liszt, who had previously been the wife of the pianist 
Von Blilow, from whom she was divorced. 

9. Robert Schumann was a German musician and 
composer, and born at Zwickau in 18 10. At the age of 
forty he became chapel-master at Dusseldorf. Among his 



WHAT? 367 



best works is the oratorio of "Paradise and the Peri." 
He died in 1856. His wife, Clara Wieck, is one of the 
most distinguished female pianists of the time. 

115. What two cities were besieged ten years? Ans. 
Troy and Veii ; the latter was a rival of Rome. 

116. Apoplexy. — What authors died of this disease? 
Ans. Emanuel Swedenborg, George Croly, Linnaeus, 
Jean Jacques Rousseau, Champollion, Samuel Richardson, 
and William Prescott. 

1. Emanuel Swedenborg. (See 59 in "Who?") 

2. George Croly. — Rev. George Croly was born in 
Dublin in 1780, and was educated at Trinity College, in 
his native city, where he took his regular Master's degree, 
and was subsequently ordained "deacon and priest" in 
the English church. After a few years he went to Eng- 
land to reside, and in 1835 was presented by Lord Lynd- 
hurst, at the earnest recommendation of Lord Brougham, 
with the living of St. Stephen's Church, Wallbrook, Lon- 
don ; this position he continued to fill till his death, 
which occurred on the 24th of November, i860, when 
he suddenly expired from a stroke of apoplexy. He 
wrote a great many books on theology, politics, and mis- 
cellaneous subjects. He was also quite a poet. As a 
pulpit orator Dr. Crqly was one of the most celebrated 
of his day. He rarely wrote his sermons, but delivered 
them in that impassioned manner so peculiar to that Irish 
school of eloquence which was graced by the names of 
Sheridan, Grattan, and Curran. His works are the fol- 
lowing : "Divine Providence, or Three Cycles of Rev- 
elation," "The True Idea of Baptism," "Sermons 
Preached at St. Stephen's, Wallbrook," "Sermons on 
Important Subjects," pamphlets on " Marriage with a 
Deceased Wife's Sister," and on the "Proposed Admis- 
sion of Jews into Parliament," "The Political Life of 
Edmund Burke," "The Personal History of George 
IV.," "Paris in 1815, and other Poems," "Catiline, a 
Tragedy, with other Poems," etc. 

3. Linnaeus. (See 69 in "Who?") 

4. Jean Jacques Rousseau. (See 21 in "What?") 

5. Champollion. (See 85 in " Who?") 

6. Samuel Richardson, who may be said to be the 



368 WHAT? 



inventor of the modern English novel, was the son of a 
carpenter in Derbyshire, and was born in 1689. From 
the limited means of his father he was restricted to a 
common-school education, which is very apparent in the 
structure of his composition. He early exhibited, how- 
ever, the most decisive marks of genius, and was remark- 
ably partial to letter-writing, and to the company of his 
young female friends, with whom he maintained a con- 
stant correspondence, and even ventured, though only in 
his eleventh year, to become their occasional monitor and 
adviser. At the age of sixteen he was put to the printer's 
trade, which he chose because it would allow him an op- 
portunity for reading. At the termination of his ap- 
prenticeship he became a compositor and corrector of the 
press, and continued in this office for nearly six years, 
when he entered into business for himself. By industry, 
punctuality, and integrity he became more and more 
known, and his business rapidly increased, so that in a 
few years he obtained the lucrative situation of printer to 
the House of Commons. He did not, however, neglect 
to use his pen, and frequently composed prefaces and 
dedications for the booksellers. He also published a 
volume of "Familiar Letters," which might serve as a 
model for persons of a limited education. In 1740 he 
published his first novel, "Pamela," which immediately 
attracted an extraordinary degree of attention. Sir Wal- 
ter Scott used to speak very highly of it. In 1749 ap- 
peared Richardson's second and greatest novel, "The 
History of Clarissa Harlowe," which raised his reputation 
at once as a master of fictitious narrative to the highest 
point. Dr. Drake calls it "perhaps the most pathetic 
tale ever published. ' ' It was translated twice into French, 
and Rousseau declared that "nothing equal or approach- 
ing to it had ever been produced in any country." In 

1753 came his " History of Sir Charles Grandison." In 

1754 he was elected to the post of master to the Sta- 
tioners' Company, a situation as lucrative as it was hon- 
orable. For some years previous to his death he had suf- 
fered much from nervous attacks, which terminated in an 
apoplectic stroke, which proved fatal on the 4th of July, 
1761. 



WHAT? 



369 



7. William Prescott. (See 34 in " What?") 

117. Blackwood's Magazine. — What is the history 
of this celebrated periodical ? Ans. The first volume 
of " Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine," afterwards one 
of the most noted in the world, was published on the 1st 
of April, 181 7, in the immortal No. 17 Prince's Street, 
Edinburgh. William Blackwood was the publisher, and 
the editors were Messrs. Pringle and Cleghorn, both of 
whom, curiously enough, were much deformed in person. 
After the fourth number was published, Blackwood quar- 
reled with Pringle and Cleghorn, and undertook to be his 
own editor, continuing so till he died, seventeen years 
subsequently. Blackwood was a fierce Tory, and how he 
ever agreed with Pringle and Cleghorn, who were Whigs, 
is a mystery. Blackwood, when thrown on his own re- 
sources, looked about him for assistants, and found James 
Hogg, whose " Queen's Wake" had placed him, not 
long before, in a station among Scottish poets inferior 
only to Robert Burns and Walter Scott ; then John Wil- 
son, in the spring of intellect and flush of manhood, who 
afterwards become famous as " Christopher North" ; there 
was John Gibson Lockhart, eminently gifted by intellect, 
and largely improved by education ; and Robert Pierce 
Gillies, who came to fill the pages of Blackwood with rare 
treats of wit and wisdom. The famous " Noctes Ara- 
brosianse" first appeared as a serial in Blackwood in March, 
1822. On the death of William Blackwood, John Wil- 
son became editor, and he had an able corps to assist 
him. Maginn wrote for it for over twenty years. In- 
deed, nearly all the great men of the times contributed 
to this magazine. Charles Lamb, Sym, Coleridge, De 
Quincey, Caroline Bowles, Mrs. Hemans, and Allan Cun- 
ningham are but a few of the names that appeared on its 
pages. 

118. Sects of Philosophy. — What were the princi- 
pal ones among the Greeks? Ans. The Ionic, the Italic, 
the Socratic, the Cynic, the Academic, the Peripatetic, 
the Skeptical, the Stoic, the Epicurean. 

1. The Ionic was the most ancient, and was founded 
by Thales. These sects were distinguished by certain pe- 
culiarities of doctrine. Thales looked upon water as the 
Q* 



37° 



WHAT? 



principle of everything. This sect was distinguished for 
its deep and abstruse speculation. 

2. The Italian taught the transmigration of souls, 
and was founded by Pythagoras. 

3. The Socratic, founded by Socrates, insisted on 
the excellence of virtue. 

4. The Cynic, founded by Antisthenes, condemned 
all knowledge, society, and the arts of life. 

5. The Academic, by Plato, dealt in ideal forms and 
mystical theogony. 

6. The Peripatetic, by Aristotle, exhibited the 
model of a perfect logic. This school has exerted the 
greatest influence over the human mind. It reigned in 
the schools through sixteen hundred years. 

7. The Skeptical, by Pyrrho, inculcated universal 
doubt. 

8. The Stoic, by Zeno, decried all weakness, and 
made insensibility a virtue. 

9. The Epicurean, by Epicurus, pointed to pleasure 
as the supreme good. 

ug. Fasces. — What was it? Ans. It was an axe tied 
up with a bundle of rods, and borne before the Roman 
magistrates as a badge of their authority. 

120. Embalming. — What nation first practiced this 
art? Ans. Embalming is supposed to have originated in 
Persia. Dion Cassius says that when Pharnaces sent the 
body of his father, Mithridates, to Pompey, he had it 
placed in brine ; but it seems probable that in the East 
nitre was more frequently used for this purpose than com- 
mon salt. The custom of preserving dead bodies in 
honey was also employed at a very early period. The re- 
mains of several Spartans, who died in foreign countries, 
were thus prepared for transmission to their native homes. 
The body of Alexander the Great is said to have been 
embalmed in this manner. 

121. Edict of Nantes. — What king granted this 
famous edict? Ans. Henry IV. of France. 

Henry was a Protestant before he came to the throne, 
and by the aid of the Calvinists secured the sceptre, and 
in gratitude, as is believed, granted to them the "Edict 
of Nantes." This gave to the Calvinists, as well as all 



WHAT? 37I 



his subjects, the right of the free exercise of their religion. 
Afterwards, by the influence and earnest entreaties of the 
Duke of Sully, as well as by views of policy, Henry re- 
nounced Protestantism and became a Catholic. 

122. Parthenon. — What was it? Ans. A magnifi- 
cent temple built by Phidias in the reign of Pericles. It 
stood on the "square-topped hill" of the Acropolis, in 
Athens. It was sacred to Minerva, the virgin goddess. 
Phidias's statue of Minerva was in the Parthenon, and was 
thirty-nine feet high, and made of gold and ivory. The 
gold ornamentation on this statue was computed at forty- 
four talents, or about four hundred and sixty-five thousand 
dollars of our money. In beauty and grandeur the Par- 
thenon surpassed all other buildings of the kind, and was 
constructed entirely of Pentelic marble. The expense of 
its erection was estimated at six thousand talents. The 
Parthenon was not only the best school of architecture in 
the world, but it was also the noblest museum of sculpture 
and the richest gallery of painting. It was destroyed in 
the year 1687 by the fall of an unlucky bomb, during the 
besieging of the citadel of Athens by the Venetians. The 
Turks had put powder in the Parthenon, and the bomb 
going off, the roof was entirely destroyed and the whole 
building nearly reduced to ruins. In 1800 Lord Elgin 
removed a variety of the matchless friezes (done by Phid- 
ias and his scholars) and statuary, etc., which were pur- 
chased from him by Parliament on the part of the nation, 
and now form the most valuable and interesting portion 
of the British Museum.* 

123. Temples. — What other temples were built on 
the Acropolis ? Ans. A small temple of Minerva, a tem- 
ple of Hercules, the temple of Eleusis. The latter was 
burned by the invasion of the Persian army, but was re- 
built under Pericles by Ictinus, the architect of the Par- 
thenon. Strabo says that the mystic cell of this edifice 
was capable of containing as many persons as a theatre. 
These temples were all built of the white Pentelic marble, 
which has a pinkish tinge on it now. Where it is broken 
off lately it looks like white sugar. History says the tem- 



* Anthon's Classical Dictionary. 



372 WHAT? 



pies of the Acropolis were filled with the noblest works 
of Phidias and Praxiteles, besides other master-sculptures. 

124. What celebrated men were drowned ? Arts. Mungo 
Park, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Reginald Heber, Lant Car- 
penter. 

1. Mungo Park, the renowned African traveler, was 
born at Fowlshields, in Selkirkshire, Scotland, in 1 771, and 
was the seventh of thirteen children. Being early placed 
in the grammar-school of Selkirk, he distinguished him- 
self for his ready talents as well as for great perseverance 
and application. He had an early desire to study medi- 
cine, and after qualifying himself in his profession at 
Edinburgh he went to London in search of employment, 
and was speedily appointed assistant surgeon on board the 
"Worcester" East Indiaman, through the kindly exertions 
in his behalf made by Sir Joseph Banks, so well known 
as a patron of enterprising and scientific men. Mungo 
Park showed himself every way worthy of this appoint- 
ment, and soon after his return from the East Indies he 
entered the service of the " Association for the Promotion 
of Discovery through the Interior of Africa," and sailed 
from Portsmouth on the 22d of May, 1795, in the brig 
"Endeavour." His instructions were to proceed to the 
Niger by the nearest and most convenient route, and, if 
possible, trace its course from its rise to its termination, 
and visit as many of the principal cities on its banks as he 
was able. His vessel arrived at the mouth of the Gambia 
on the 21st of June, and after sailing up the river as far 
as Jonkakonda he quitted her, and made preparations' to 
proceed into the interior of the country by land. After 
many hardships and privations he came in sight of Sego, 
the capital of Bambarra, on the 21st of July, 1796. This 
town was situated on the Niger, and when Park reached 
it he was almost worn out with exhaustion. The natives 
called this river Joliba, or the " Great Water." He had 
not traveled far, however, in the exploration of the Niger 
before the rainy season set in, and he was compelled to 
hasten his return, in which he suffered quite as much by 
sickness and encountered as many perils as in his advance. 
Once he was beset by banditti, who robbed him of almost 
everything he had. Finally he reached the coast, took 



WHAT? 



373 



passage in an American ship for the West Indies, and 
thence to England, and landed at Falmouth on the 2 2d 
of December, 1797, after an absence of two years and 
seven months. He was received with distinguished honor 
by the African Association, and by almost all the other 
scientific bodies and eminent literary characters of Lon- 
don. He made arrangements to publish his travels, and 
the next year went to Scotland, where in August he 
married Miss Anderson, the eldest daughter of his old 
teacher at Selkirk. He commenced practicing as a physi- 
cian at Peebles, but soon another expedition was planned 
for him, and on the 30th of January, 1806, he sailed from 
England with a party of forty-four for a second explora- 
tion of the Niger. But so severe were the fevers of the 
country that when Park reached Sego again, on the 19th 
of September, but nine out of the forty-four were left, 
and those were sick. Nothing daunted, this energetic 
man had a boat constructed, on which he took the small 
remnants of his party, and with them set sail to explore 
the Niger. They had proceeded as far as Boosa, when 
the king of the country, angry at not having received any 
presents as a fee to pass through his domains, — Park had 
sent the accustomed offerings, but the bearer proved dis- 
honest, and kept them, in place of giving them to the 
king, — assembled a large body of men on the top of a 
high bluff at a very narrow place in the river, and as Park 
and his companions were about to pass, assailed them 
furiously with lances, pikes, stones, and missiles of every 
description. A number were instantly killed, and Mungo 
Park, seeing all resistance vain, jumped into the river to 
swim ashore, and was drowned. 

2. Percy Bysshe Shelley. (See 21 in "What?") 

3. Reginald Heberwas born at Malpas, in Cheshire, 
on the 21st of April, 1783, and was the son of Rev. 
Reginald Heber. His youth was distinguished by pre- 
cocity of talent, docility of temper, a love of reading, 
and a veneration for religion. In 1800 he entered the 
University of Oxford. During his first year he gained 
the prize for Latin verse, and two years later wrote his 
poem of "Palestine," which was received with great 
applause. His college career was brilliant from its cora- 

32 



374 WHAT? 



mencement to its close. After taking his degree and 
gaining the university prize for the best English prose 
essay, he set out in 1805 on a continental tour. He 
returned the following year, and in 1807 " took orders," 
and was settled in Hodnet, in Shropshire, where for many 
years he discharged the duties of his large parish with 
exemplary assiduity. In 1809 he married, and in the 
same year published a series of Hymns, among which are 
'"'From Greenland's icy mountains," and "By cool 
Siloam's shady rill." In 181 2 he commenced a Dic- 
tionary of the Bible, and published a volume of Poems 
and Translations, the latter being chiefly from Pindar. 
After being advanced to two or three ecclesiastical pre- 
ferments, in 1S22 he received the offer of the bishopric 
of Calcutta, made vacant by the death of Dr. Middle- 
ton. Never, it is believed, did any man accept an office 
from a higher sense of duty. He was in the possession 
of affluence, had the fairest prospects before him, and had 
recently built at Hodnet a parsonage-house, combining 
every comfort with elegance and beauty. But he con- 
sidered this call as a call from Heaven, from which he 
might not shrink ; and he resolutely determined to obey 
the summons. In 1823 he embarked for India, where he 
arrived in safety. He entered with great earnestness upon 
his duties, and had already made many long journeys 
through his extensive field of labor, when he was drowned 
while bathing at Trichinopli, having been seized with an 
apoplectic fit the 3d of April, 1826. After his death 
were published " Parish Sermons at Hodnet," and a 
" Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces 
of India, from Calcutta to Bombay." But it is by his 
beautiful poems that he will live longest in the hearts of 
his admirers. 

4. Lant Carpenter was the third son of George Car- 
penter, a carpet manufacturer of Kidderminster, and was 
born at that place on the 2d of September, 1780. He 
completed his professional studies at the University of 
Glasgow, where he acquitted himself with so much credit 
that the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him at an 
unusually early period of life. After leaving Glasgow he 
was for a time librarian of the Liverpool Athenaeum, but 



WHAT? 



375 



he soon settled as a minister over a congregation in Exe- 
ter ; and after being there some years he removed to Bris- 
tol and took charge of the Unitarian church, in which 
connection he continued to the closing years of his life. 
His health failing him, he had gone to Italy, and on the 
5th of April, 1840, he embarked at Naples to go to Leg- 
horn. At ten o'clock in the evening he was seen for the 
last time, walking the deck of the vessel. It was a dark 
and stormy night, and as he was prostrated by seasick- 
ness, probably in one of the lurches of the vessel he lost 
his balance and fell overboard. His body was washed 
ashore about fifty miles from Rome. The work by which 
he is best known is that entitled " Principles of Educa- 
tion ; Intellectual, Moral, and Physical." While engaged 
in his ministerial duties he was for many years head of a 
school, and lectured also, besides writing much for the 
press. He was very benevolent, and was distinguished 
for his ardent piety. He entered into everything that he 
undertook with the greatest zeal, and his labors were al- 
ways in the line of what is favorable to the best interests 
of man. 

125. Cicero. — What is his definition of justice? Arts. 
"Justice is so clear a thing, that whoever hesitates must 
be in the wrong." 

Marcus Tullius Cicero, next to Demosthenes, was the 
greatest orator that ever lived, and certainly the greatest 
one that Rome ever produced. He was called the ' ' Father 
of Latin eloquence," and was born on the 3d of January, 
106 B.C., and in the six hundred and forty-seventh year 
of Rome. His mother, Helvia, was of a noble family and 
an excellent character, and is said to have brought the 
young Cicero into the world without pain. When he was 
old enough to go to school his genius broke out with so 
much lustre, and he gained so distinguished a reputation 
among the boys, that the fathers of many of them visited 
the school purposely to see the lad of whom their own 
children were never tired talking. He early learned all 
the arts and sciences, yet he most inclined to poetry. In 
after-years he was not only considered the first orator in 
Rome, but also the first poet. His father, who was a Ro- 
man knight and a man of marked ability, procured for his 



376 WHAT? 



son the most celebrated masters of Rome and Greece. 
When only eighteen he served one campaign under Sylla, 
and grew very fond of war; but civil strife being ram- 
pant, he withdrew from public life for a while and devoted 
himself to science. Cicero had studied law under the 
eminent Mucius Scaevola, then president of the Roman 
senate, and plead his first case when twenty-seven years 
old. He is described as "lean and slender," with a 
stomach so weak that he was obliged to be very sparing 
in his diet. In the early stages of his public speaking his 
voice was very harsh and rough, rising, when he grew ex- 
cited, to a pitch that was very terrible to sensitive nerves. 
This defect he was very conscious of, and took every 
measure in his power to remedy the difficulty, partly 
owing to the weakness of his constitution. His voice had 
a variety of inflections which, were he able to manage 
them, would be of invaluable service to him. To train 
this, like another Demosthenes, was his constant study, 
and he spared neither trials nor expense that would assist 
Jbim. He rarely let a day pass that he did not either de- 
claim or attend the lectures of the celebrated orators. He 
even sailed to Asia and the island of Rhodes to gain in- 
formation on the subject of oratory. He was well repaid 
for his pains, for his voice by constant drilling acquired a 
sweetness and took a key that was not injurious to his 
health. His own estate was not large, though ample to 
cover his wants, never extravagant ; but, strangest of all, 
he would never take either fee or present for the causes 
that he plead at the bar. He was both humorous and 
satirical in his pleadings, and many anecdotes have come 
down to us in relation to his cases. His satire at all times 
made him dreaded, and lost him many friends. He had 
a fine country-seat at Arpinum, a farm near Naples, and 
another at Pompeii, but neither of the farms was consid- 
ered valuable. His wife Terentia brought with her a for- 
tune of a hundred and twenty thousand denarii, and he 
fell heir to something that amounted to ninety thousand 
more. Upon this he lived in a genteel though frugal 
manner, giving up his town house, that belonged to the 
family, to his brother, and taking up his residence on the 
Palatine hill, where he had a levee every day, and was 



WHAT, 



377 



courted by the Greeks and Romans around him as much 
as either Pompey for his power or Crcesus for his great 
wealth. Cicero's wife was very ambitious, and anxious 
that he should hold a high position in the state. He says 
of her, " that she took a greater share with him in politics 
than she permitted him to have in domestic business." 
She was a woman of an imperious temper, and had so 
great an ascendency over Cicero that she obliged him to 
give in evidence against Clodius, when C&esar divorced 
Pompeia, though it is supposed that he did it reluctantly. 
She was jealous of Clodius's sister Clodia, whom she 
thought Cicero was fain to fall in love with, and on this 
account gave him no rest till he proved the brother guilty 
of having entered Caesar's house. In his forty-third year 
he was made consul, after having passed through the other 
honors of the state. He was a great friend of Pompey, 
who paid him much respect, and found his political assist- 
ance very useful to him at different times. Cicero put an 
end to the Catiline conspiracy, and for this received the 
thanks of the people, and was called the father of his 
country and the second founder of Rome. Catiline was 
a profligate noble, and with many other reckless characters 
plotted against their country ; but all their projects were 
baffled by Cicero's extreme watchfulness. Catiline was 
defeated in the field, and Cicero, at Rome, punished the 
other conspirators with death. Later he refused to agree 
to the arbitrary measures of Caesar and Pompey, and was 
exiled. He fretted over his banishment, bearing it in 
anything but a manly way, and in sixteen months' time 
was restored to his country with renewed honors. After 
Caesar and Pompey came to an open rupture, Cicero was 
in great anxiety, and could not fully make up his mind 
which standard to follow. He says in his epistles, 
M Whither shall I turn ? Pompey has the more honorable 
cause ; but Caesar manages his affairs with the greatest 
address, and is most able to save himself and his friends. 
In short, I know whom to avoid, but not whom to seek." 
At length he joined Pompey's forces, for which Cato 
seriously blamed him, saying he could have served his 
country better by remaining at Rome. This made Cicero 
dissatisfied, and he even showed his dissatisfaction to 

32* 



378 WHAT? 



Pompey, who he thought did not employ him in a man- 
ner suitable to his position. After the battle of Pharsalia, 
— in which he was not present on account of ill health, — 
when Pompey was defeated and fled, Cato, who had con- 
siderable forces and a great fleet at Dyrrachium, begged 
of Cicero to take the command, because his consular dig- 
nity gave him a legal right to it. He, however, decidedly 
refused it, and also to take any further share in the war. 
This conduct so enraged young Pompey and his friends 
that they called him traitor, drew their swords, and would 
have killed him had not his ally Cato interposed and con- 
veyed him out of the camp. He went immediately to 
Brundusium, and remained there waiting for Caesar's return 
from Egypt, where the fair Cleopatra had held him longer 
than his business affairs required. Csesar received him 
with every mark of esteem, going to meet him as soon as 
he saw him approach, and treating him ever after with the 
greatest kindness and respect. Rome being changed into 
a monarchy, Cicero withdrew from public business, and 
devoted his leisure to the young men who were desirous 
of being instructed in philosophy. As these were of the 
best families, by his interest with them he once more ob- 
tained great authority in Rome. He composed and trans- 
lated philosophical dialogues, and rendered the Greek 
terms of logic and natural philosophy into the Roman 
language. He passed most of the remaining days of his 
life at his Tusculan villa, and rarely went to Rome, and 
then only to pay court to Csesar. On his return from the 
wars he was divorced from his wife Terentia and married 
a wealthy young girl whose guardian he had been. He 
gave as an excuse for this step that Terentia had neglected 
him during the war, even sending him off without neces- 
saries ; and that after his return to Italy she behaved to 
him with little regard, and did not wait on him during his 
long stay at Brundusium. These and other trifling excuses 
were made to justify him in the eyes of the public. As a 
true republican he approved of Caesar's murder, and thus 
won the hatred of Mark Antony. In the year 43 B.C., 
Augustus Caesar, Antony, and Lepidus joined together in 
a third triumvirate, and agreed on a proscription of their 
enemies. Under the order of this triumvirate three hun- 



WHAT? 



37.9 



dred senators and two thousand Roman knights were sac- 
rificed, among them Cicero, to the eternal infamy of 
Augustus, who gave him up to the vengeance of Antony. 
In Cicero's attempt to escape he was overtaken by a body 
of soldiers, who cut off his head and right hand, bringing 
them to Antony. He was in his sixty-fourth year, 43 B.C. 

126. Cities. — What two besides Rome were built on 
hills? Ans. Athens, in Greece, and Jerusalem. The 
latter was built on several hills, the largest being Mount 
Zion. 

127. Human Sacrifice. — What people first insti- 
tuted the custom of sacrificing human victims to concili- 
ate their gods? Ans. The Babylonians. 

128. Manufacture of Glass. — What nation invented 
it ? Ans. The Phoenicians. They were also the first to 
manufacture purple and fine linen. 

129. What two great generals embraced before fight- 
ing? Ans. Hannibal and Scipio, before the battle of 
Zama. 

130. Fresco. — What was the old style of painting in 
fresco ? Ans. It was done by painting on plastered walls. 
Colors in those early days were mixed with water, or with 
size, egg, or fig-juice. 

131. Astronomy. — What people were the first to cul- 
tivate it? Ans. The Chaldeans. 

132. Friendships. — What two friendships lasting 
through life were made through a challenge of duels? 
Ans. That of Thomas Moore with Lord Byron and Jef- 
frey. It happened in this way : in 1806 Moore published 
his (l Odes and Epistles," and Jeffrey in the " Edinburgh 
Review" criticised them without mercy. The little Irish- 
man fired up at this, and meeting Jeffrey some days after 
in London, challenged him to fight. This they did, or 
rather were about to do, having taken their places, when 
they were surprised by two policemen, who seized them, 
and landed them in the Bow Street jail to await bail. 
They were put in the same room, and chatted pleasantly 
together till their friends arrived to liberate them. After 
this they met frequently, and each vowed that he had ad- 
mired the other from the start, and were friends ever after. 
His duel with Byron was brought about on account of that 



3 8o 



WHAT? 



poet ridiculing Moore's fight with Jeffrey. This did not 
suit Moore, who was very sensitive on the subject of the 
ridiculous figure they made, and off went another chal- 
lenge to Byron for "coffee and pistols for two." The 
letter of challenge did not reach Byron till months after 
it was written, and then it appeared to him too amusing 
to regard it as serious. Byron on his return to London 
invited Moore to dinner, and made some explanations 
which were readily accepted, for if Moore was quick to re- 
sent he was as swift to forgive, and then began a life-long 
friendship between Byron and Moore, though the former 
used to say it was the " lord" which Moore liked in him. 

133. " Maga." — What celebrated magazine was thus 
known? Ans. " Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine." It 
was a contraction of the word magazine, given it by its 
writers. (See 117 in "What?") 

134. What nation threw their poor and sickly chil- 
dren into a cavern, thinking them no use to the state and 
no credit to themselves? Ans. The Spartans. 

135. Law. — What great men of letters studied for the 
law ? Ans. Shadwell, Rowe, Ovid, Goethe, Corneille, 
Cowper, Petrarch, Heyne, Metastasio, Schiller, Voltaire, 
Chaucer, Milton, Moore, Irving, Scott, Campbell, Gray, 
Saxe, Wordsworth, Procter, and Longfellow. 

1. Thomas Shadwell. (See 18 in "Who?") 

2. Nicholas Rowe. (See 18 in "Who?") 

3. Ovid, a distinguished Roman poet, was born at 
Sulmo on the 20th of March, about 43 years B.C. His father 
was anxious to have him devote his time to the study of 
law, but though he was fond of public speaking, and made 
great progress in the study of eloquence, nothing could 
win him from poetry. Everything he wrote was expressed 
in poetical numbers. He soon became known throughout 
the country, and the great geniuses of the age honored 
him with their notice and some of them with their corres- 
pondence. For a time the Emperor Augustus extended the 
hand of friendship, and liberally patronized him, but the 
days of his sunshine were not many, as his majesty soon 
banished him for some petty offense — so trifling as never 
to have been mentioned — to Tomos, on the Euxine Sea. 
Here Ovid passed the remainder of his life, a period of 



WHAT? 381 



seven or eight years, in impatient, unmanly repinings. 
All the flattery that he could bring to bear, and it was 
most groveling in its kind, had no effect either on Augus- 
tus or his successor, Tiberius, to recall him. Most of his 
poems have survived to the present time, and are charac- 
terized by sweetness and elegance, though often debased 
by inelegance of expression. Ovid never paints nature 
but he does it with a master-hand. His "Fasti," parts 
of which are lost, are considered his best poems. John 
Milton is said to have thought very highly of his verses. 

4. Johann von Goethe. (See 30 in "Who?") 

5. Peter Corneille. (See 83 in "Who?") 

6. William Cowper. (See 84 in "Who?") 

7. Francis Petrarch, who was born in Arezzo, 1304, 
is celebrated as one of the restorers of classical learning, 
and more perhaps than any other person, as the father of 
modern poetry. He displayed all the powers of genius 
and poetical inspiration, not only in his own native lan- 
guage, the Italian, but in Latin. His sonnets are con- 
sidered the sweetest, most elegant, and most highly fin- 
ished verses ever written in Italian, and his songs possess 
uncommon beauty and grace. He had a vivid imagina- 
tion and a charming fancy. Petrarch was an ecclesiastic, 
though he never took priest's orders. He died at the age 
of seventy, at Arqua, near Padua, July 18, 1374. In 1874, 
the five hundredth anniversary of that event was cele- 
brated at Padua and Avignon, by the Italian and French 
adi.iirers of Petrarch, with a variety of ceremonial fes- 
tivals. At Padua a monumental statue was unveiled, an 
exhibition of relics was opened, and addresses and poems 
were recited. Pilgrimages on foot and by special trains 
were also made to Arqua, where he is buried. At Avignon, 
on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday preceding the anniver- 
sary, there was a succession of entertainments, including 
a procession, which represented the triumphal march of 
Petrarch to be crowned at the Capitol of Rome. Some 
of the events of Petrarch's life are rather singular, particu- 
larly his inextinguishable passion for his mistress Laura. 
In 1327 our poet moved to Vaucluse, near Avignon, in 
France, when he first met the woman who seems to have 
blighted his entire after-life. It was a case of infatuation at 



382 WHAT? 



first sight on his part, but the fair Laura, already the wife 
of Hugh de Sade, did not return the passion that we are 
told Petrarch lavished upon her. Laura carelessly received 
his amatory effusions, and Petrarch concluded to travel to 
divert his melancholy. He entered the service of Pope 
John XXII., but he never was so happy as when at Vau- 
cluse, and passed the greater part of his life there. Dur- 
ing twenty-one years Petrarch devoted himself to Madame 
Laura. In the mean time the great world received his 
poetry, and Rome, Paris, and Naples vied with each other 
in offering him a laurel crown. Rome prevailed, and in 
that famed city of art and learning the poet's brow was 
entwined with the brightest honors. Public business oc- 
casionally drew Petrarch from Vaucluse, and during one 
of these absences his beloved Laura died, leaving him in 
the deepest gloom. Some writers maintain that the poet 
was pure in this affair, and that Laura never had any but 
a platonic affection for Italy's celebrated poet. Others 
say the reverse. Later writers assert that Petrarch affected, 
in the imitation of the fashion of that age, a " purely 
sentimental and fantastic passion" for Madame de Sade, 
and that it is very doubtful whether there ever was, at any 
time in their lives, more than a very slight personal ac- 
quaintance between them, or whether they knew each 
other by name. Petrarch tells us that he frequently met 
her on the street and at church. (See 144 in " What ?") 

8. Christian Gottlob Heyne was born in Silesia, in 
1729. He was an eminent German critic and scholar, and 
succeded Gesner, in 1763, in the professorship of rhetoric, 
at Gottingen, where he also became secretary to the So- 
ciety of Sciences. He drew up a catalogue of the library 
at Gottingen, which contained one hundred and fifty 
folio volumes. Tutor to the three youngest sons of King 
George III. of England, these lawless young men, strange 
to say, treated him with the greatest respect. Heyne died 
suddenly in 181 2. As an editor of the classics he is justly 
celebrated, and his criticisms have been the admiration of 
the learned men of the world. From poverty and ob- 
scurity he rose to fame and affluence. 

9. Pietro Bonaventura Metastasio, whose original 
name was Trapassi, the most illustrious poet of modern 



WHAT? 3 S$ 



Italy, was born in Rome in 1698. When only ten years 
of age he used to repeat verses of his own sweet com- 
position to audiences which gathered around him, and 
listened with attention and wonder. Gravina was his 
patron. Without neglecting his muse Metastasio studied 
law, but finally assumed the clerical habit. Gravina, at 
his death, left the poet his entire fortune, worth fifteen 
thousand crowns, which the latter dissipated in the short 
space of two years, owing to his convivial and hospitable 
habits. After having squandered his money he wrote for 
the stage, at the request of the famous singer Bulgarella, 
and soon found himself the object of general admiration. 
He passed the greater part of his life at Vienna, enjoying 
the patronage of the sovereigns of Austria, at which place 
he died at the advanced age of eighty- four. His works 
consist of twenty-six operas, eight sacred dramas, besides 
other poetical miscellanies. They have been translated 
into various languages, and possess a high reputation. 
Metastasio paints virtue and morality in the most striking 
pictures of his brain ; nor is he wanting in flights of sub- 
limity. This practical poet did not believe in waiting for 
"fits of inspiration" or propitious seasons for the com- 
position of poetry, but, like another Balzac, calmly seated 
himself to his prescribed task, and completed it as he 
would any other piece of business. 

10. John Christopher Frederick von Schiller 
was born at Marbach, a small town in the duchy of Wiir- 
temberg, on the 10th of November, 1759. He was born 
some six weeks before Robert Burns, and ten years prior to 
Napoleon. His parents were upright, pious people, who 
early instilled the principles of religion in the young 
Frederick's breast. His father, Casper Schiller, was an 
officer in the military service of the Duke of Wiirtemberg. 
He had served at one time as a surgeon in the Bavarian 
army, but on his final return to his native Wiirtemberg, 
and to the service of his native prince, he laid aside his 
medical character forever, and obtained a commission as 
ensign and adjutant. Schiller is universally conceded to 
hold a place second only to Goethe in German literature. 
De Quincey thinks " He is the ablest representative that 
we have of the German intellect in its highest form." 



384 WHAT? 



Schiller probably owed to his mother exclusively the 
preternatural endowments of his intellect. She was of 
humble origin, the daughter of a baker, and not well 
educated, but was blessed with the richest gifts of the 
heart and the understanding. She read poetry with 
delight, and found it easy to communicate her literary 
tastes to her son, who was devotedly attached to her. 
Schiller had a loved sister, who sang and learned his 
songs while spinning, a bright, charming girl, who was 
to appear on the stage, but died while finishing her edu- 
cation, at the early age of nineteen. Her death was the 
greatest grief the poet ever had. Reared by parents so 
affectionate and pious, Schiller passed a quiet and happy 
childhood, remarkable in no way, except by the influ- 
ence it exerted on his after-life. At fourteen he was 
sent to Stuttgart, by command of the duke, who wished 
Schiller to study law. He himself desired to be put in 
some pastoral office, the peace of which was so congenial 
to his frame of mind. As he was, however, educated at the 
expense of the duke, he tried to strangle other aims and 
aspirations for the sake of the parents, who he knew 
were anxious to have him follow the duke's wishes. 
Joined to the juristic department was another for training 
men to the medical profession. Here Schiller was trans- 
ferred in 1775, thinking it would give him a larger field 
of study. The school was governed by military discipline, 
which was utterly revolting to the " aspiring nobility of 
his moral nature." It was while in this school, in his 
nineteenth year, that he wrote " The Robbers," which was 
received among the young men of Germany with an en- 
thusiasm absolutely unparalleled. It was brought out on 
the stage in the neighboring city of Mannheim, and per- 
formed with great applause. The news reaching Schiller's 
ears, he clandestinely went to see it, no doubt feeling in- 
terested in the success of his own play ; for which piece of 
audacity on his part he was put under arrest on his return to 
school, and kept in close confinement. This so disgusted 
him that not long afterwards Schiller eloped to Mannheim, 
where he lived in the house of Dalberg, a man of consid- 
erable rank, who was the literary manager or director of 
the theatre. This connection determined the direction 



WHAT? 385 



of his talents, and his " Fiesco," "Intrigue and Love," 
" Don Carlos," and " Maria Stuart" followed in a short 
period of years. These plaps display less power than 
"The Robbers," and are equally licentious. Finally he 
brought out his " Wallenstein," "an immortal drama, 
nearest to the Shaksperean dramas in point of excellence 
to anything we have." — (De Quincey.) During his stay 
in Mannheim he had a love-affair with his director's, 
daughter, Laura Dalberg, but was forgotten when he en- 
tered the celebrated University of Jena, in the territory of 
Weimar. It was here that Schiller formed his friend- 
ship for Goethe, which is said to be "the most enduring 
and beautiful of any friendship in the annals of literature." 
The Grand Duke of Weimar at that time was gathering 
around him the most eminent German intellects, and was 
eager tQ enroll Schiller in the number of his professors, 
and in 1799 our poet was given the chair of Civil History. 
Not many months later he married Miss Lengefeld, whom 
he had known for some time. In 1803 he was raised to 
the rank of gentleman, and entitled to the prefix of Von 
to his name. His income was now sufficient for domestic 
comfort and respectable independence, and he was sur- 
rounded by his friends Goethe, Herder, and Wieland. 
But his health was being gradually undermined. His lungs 
had long been subject to attacks of disease, nor was he 
careful to preserve such feeble health as he had. He 
would frequently sit up the entire night, defrauding his 
wasted frame of the sleep it so much needed. He died 
peacefully on the 9th of May, 1805, at seven o'clock in 
the evening. His last words were, " Many things are 
growing plain and clear to my understanding." The 
event produced a profound sensation throughout Germany. 
At Weimar the theatres were closed, and his funeral was 
conducted with public honors. In person he was tall, 
and of a strong, bony structure, but not muscular, only 
strikingly lean. His forehead was broad and lofty, his 
nose aquiline, and his mouth almost of Grecian beauty. 
His whole appearance was pleasing and impressive. He 
had an abundance of auburn hair. 

11. Voltaire. (See 26 in "Who?") 

12. Chaucer. (See 15 in "Who?") 
R 33 



386 WHAT? 



13. Milton. (See 3S in " Who ?") 
14- Moore. (See 55 in "Who?") 

15. Irving. (See 39 in " Who?") 

16. Scott. (See 3 in "Who?") 

17. Campbell. (See 42 in "Who?") 

18. Gray. (See 23-5 in "What?") 

19. Saxe. (See 61-2 in " Who ?") 

20. Wordsworth. (See 57 in " W T ho?") 
si. Procter. (See 9 in " Who?") 

22. Longfellow. (See 138 in "What?") 
136. Alexander the Great. — What general ordered 
his troops to cut off their beards before going into battle ? 
A?is. Alexander the Great. The ancients wore very long 
beards, and in battle, when they came to hand-to-hand 
encounters, these beards were caught and used as handles 
to twist the adversary around with ; therefore Alexander 
used the precaution to have his troops shave before going 
to meet the enemy. Alexander was King of Greece, the 
son of Philip, born at Pella, in Macedonia, on the 6th 
of July, 355 B.C. At the early age of ten he was deliv- 
ered to the tuition of Aristotle, and early followed his 
father to the field. On the day of Alexander's birth 
Philip had just taken the city of Potidsea, and three mes- 
sengers arrived the same day with extraordinary tidings. 
The first informed him that his general, Parmenio, had 
gained a great battle over the Illyrians ; the second told 
him that his race-horse had won the prize at the Olympic 
games; and the third brought the news of the birth of 
Alexander by his wife Olympias. The soothsayers in- 
creased his joy, which was great at the latter news, by as- 
suring him that his son, who was born in the midst of 
three victories, must of course prove invincible. Alex- 
ander is described as being tall and fair, with a tinge of 
red on his face and breast, and "that a most agreeable 
scent proceeded from his skin, and that his breath and 
whole body were so fragrant that they perfumed his under- 
garments." He was a great student, and especially de- 
voted to Homer's Iliad. When he followed his father to 
battle, he manifested both valor and skill, and once had 
the happiness to save the life of Philip when it was in 
great danger from the enemy. On the death of Philip, 



WHAT? 387 



which placed Alexander at the head of the government 
when he was only twenty years of age, the Grecian states 
revolted, but in a few successful battles they were reduced 
to subjection. In an assembly of the deputies of the 
nation at Corinth, he communicated to them his resolu- 
tion of undertaking the conquest of Persia, agreeably to 
the designs of his father, Philip. It was at Corinth that 
he met the cynic Diogenes, who affected a great dislike 
to wealth and rank, and lived in a strange, rude manner. 
Alexander went to see him, and asked him whether he 
wanted anything. "Yes," said Diogenes, "I want you 
to stand out of my sunshine, and not to take from me 
what you cannot give me." This so delighted the man 
whom every one courted and flattered, that he quickly 
returned, " Were I not Alexander I would be Diogenes." 
At the head of the Grecian forces he invaded Persia 335 B.C., 
when he was not yet twenty-two years of age, taking with 
him only thirty-five thousand men ; yet, with this small 
force he conquered not only Persia, but Syria, Egypt, 
India, and several other countries in the short space of 
six years. On his return home, while he tarried at Bab- 
ylon, he died suddenly in a fit of debauch, in the thirty- 
second year of his life, and the thirteenth year of his 
reign. The first exploit of Alexander in this expedition 
was the passage of the Granicus, which he effected notwith- 
standing the opposition of the Persians, who lost twenty 
thousand men in the conflict. The fruit of this victory 
was all Asia Minor. The next encounter between the 
Macedonians or Greeks and the Persians was in 333 B.C., 
near the town of Issus, in which the latter lost one hun- 
dred thousand men, and the mother, wife, and children of 
Darius, the Persian monarch, fell into the hands of Alex- 
ander. It is said that the wife of Darius was one of the 
most beautiful women, as Darius was one of the hand- 
somest men in the world, and that their daughters much 
resembled them. When news was brought to Alexander 
that among the prisoners were the wife and two unmarried 
daughters of Darius, and that they were loudly lamenting, 
thinking he was dead, Alexander listened to all this as 
though he were commiserating their misfortune rather 
than rejoicing in his own success, and sent Leonatus to 



388 WHAT? 



assure them " that Darius was not dead ; that they had 
nothing to fear from Alexander, for his dispute with the 
Persian king was only for empire ; and that they should 
find themselves provided for in the same manner as when 
Darius was in his greatest prosperity." He was as good 
as his word. He allowed them to do the funeral honors 
to what Persians they pleased, and for that purpose fur- 
nished them out of the spoils with robes and all the other 
decorations that were customary. They had as many ser- 
vants, and were served in all respects in as honorable a 
manner as before ; indeed, their appointments were greater. 
There was another part of his behavior to them still more 
noble and princely. Though they were now captives, he 
remembered that they were ladies, not only of high rank, 
but of great modesty and virtue, and took care that they 
should not hear an indecent word, nor have the least cause 
to suspect any danger to their honor. They lived in the 
enemy's camp unseen and unapproachable, and the sacred 
privacy that surrounded them could not have been greater 
had they been in the holy temple or in an asylum of vir- 
gins. Alexander married Roxana, and entirely through 
love. He first met her at an entertainment, and found 
her charms irresistible. The match was not unsuitable to 
the situation of his affairs. The barbarians placed greater 
confidence in him on account of that alliance, and his 
chastity gained their affections. It delighted them to 
think that he would not approach the only woman he ever 
passionately loved without the sanction of marriage. Later 
Alexander married Statira, the daughter of Darius, wishing 
to set his nobles an example of intermarriage with the Per- 
sians, whose customs and manners he was largely intro- 
ducing into Greece. Roxana was furiously jealous, and 
writing a forged letter to Statira, as coming from Alexan- 
der, she got her in her power and sacrificed both her and 
her sister, throwing their bodies into a well, which she filled 
up with earth. To return to his victories: he overrun all 
Syria, took Damascus, where he found the treasures of 
Darius, destroyed Tyre, entered Jerusalem, stormed Gaza, 
subdued Egypt, and visited the temple of Jupiter Amnion, 
in the Lybian desert, where he caused himself to be pro- 
claimed the son of that fictitious deity. On his return he 



WHAT? 



389 



built the city of Alexandria. Returning from Egypt, he 
found Darius with his forces concentrated on the eastern 
bank of the Tigris ; a battle ensued at Arbela 331 B.C., in 
which forty thousand Persians — some say three hundred 
thousand — were slain, and only five hundred Greeks. 
Darius fled, and was slain by Bessus, one of his lieuten- 
ants. Alexander, with his usual kindness of heart, gave 
the Persian king all the honors of a royal burial, and sent 
the body embalmed to his mother, Olympias, to whom he 
was deeply attached. Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis fell 
into the hands of the conqueror, who set fire to the last 
at the instigation of the courtesan Thais. Having finished 
the conquest of Assyria, Persia, and Media, Alexander 
crossed the mountains of Caucasus, entered Hyrcania, 
and subdued all the nations south of the Oxus. Then he 
passed into Sogdiana, overtook the traitor Bessus, and put 
him to death. While in Sogdiana, during a fit of intoxi- 
cation, he killed the veteran Clitus. The latter having 
indulged in great insolence towards the king, Alexander 
bore the abuse some time in patience, but finally ordered 
Clitus to be carried out of his presence. Clitus, however, 
soon returned and renewed his invectives. Alexander, 
losing all control over himself, stabbed the soldier. He 
was immediately so shocked with what he had done that 
he was about to kill himself on the spot, and was only 
prevented by his friends. In 328 B.C. he projected the 
conquests of India. Penetrating beyond the Hydaspes, 
he defeated Porus, the seven and a half foot giant, a king 
of that country. He still continued his course to the 
East, but when he arrived at the banks of the Ganges, his 
soldiers, seeing no end to their toils, refused to go farther. 
Returning to the Indus and pursuing his course southward 
by that river, he arrived at the ocean, whence he dis- 
patched his fleet to the Persian Gulf. After his arrival at 
Babylon, he gave himself up to much intemperance, but 
was still projecting new conquests, when death suddenly 
put an end to his career. He conducted himself very 
dutifully towards his mother throughout his life, listening 
to her reproofs with mildness and patience, and when 
Antipater, whom he left to govern Macedonia in his 
absence, wrote a long letter complaining of Olympias, the 

33* 



39° 



WHA T? 



king said, with a smile, "Antipater does not know that 
one tear shed by a mother will obliterate ten such letters 
as this." 

137. Titus. — What Roman emperor was so tender of 
the lives of his subjects that he took upon himself the 
office of high-priest ? Ans. Titus. 

Titus, the son of the humane Vespasian, was the tenth 
emperor of Rome after Augustus Caesar, in the new era of 
the Roman empire. He was the worthy son of a great 
father, and was revered and reverenced by the people of 
his province. He came to the throne 79 a.d. He and 
his father stand out in bold relief against the dark back- 
ground of Nero, Vitellius, Caligula, and other wretches 
who governed Rome. Titus was a prince of a just and 
generous disposition, which he manifested in repeated acts 
of beneficence. It is said of him that recollecting one 
evening that he had done no good deed during the day, 
he exclaimed, "Oh, my friends, I have lost a day!" 
His reign was short, but prosperous and happy, lasting 
little more than two years. He was in his forty-first year. 
His brother Domitian, who succeeded him, was suspected 
of being the cause of his death. Before Titus came to the 
throne his character was thought to be not unexception- 
able ; but whatever vices he had indulged in, he appears 
to have laid aside- when he put on the purple. As an in- 
stance of the government of his passions, he relinquished 
the hand of his beloved Berenice, sister to King Agrippa, 
a woman of the greatest beauty and the most refined 
allurements. This he did because he knew that his con- 
nection with her was disagreeable to the Roman people. 
He was so tender of the lives of his subjects that he took 
upon him the office of high-priest, in order to keep his 
hands undefiled with blood. He so little regarded such 
as censured or abused him, that he was heard to say, 
"When I do nothing worthy of censure, why should I 
be displeased at it?" During his reign Rome was three 
days on fire, without intermission ; this was followed by a 
plague, in which ten thousand persons were buried in a 
day. Titus from his own resources repaired the devas- 
tations in the city, and in all respects acted like a father 
to his afflicted people. When he was taken ill, he re- 
tired into the country of the Sabines, to his father's house. 



WHAT? 391 



There his indisposition was increased by a burning fever. 
While in this state, Domitian ordered him to be placed, 
during his agony, in a tub full of snow, where he expired. 
It was Titus who carried on the famous war against the 
Jews, of which Josephus has given us a minute account. 
The war had begun under Nero, the fifth emperor of 
Rome, who intrusted the management of it to his general 
Vespasian, who, accompanied by his son Titus and a 
powerful army, arrived in Syria 67 a.d. Vespasian soon 
after being chosen emperor, left orders with Titus to con- 
tinue the war, while he set out to take charge of the gov- 
ernment of Rome. Titus prosecuted the enterprise with 
diligence, and besieging Jerusalem, took it within a few 
months, after an obstinate resistance on the part of the 
inhabitants. Twice during the siege Titus offered them 
very favorable terms, but so infatuated were they that 
they not only refused his offer, but insulted at length his 
messenger, Flavius Josephus, in the most wanton and 
virulent manner. After this conduct there remained no 
mercy for the Jews. Titus caused the hands of those who 
had voluntarily sought shelter in the Roman camp to be 
cut off and sent back to the city, and others he crucified 
in the sight of their countrymen. Famine in the mean 
time was performing its dreadful work within the walls. 
When Titus entered the city he gave it up to be plun- 
dered by the soldiers, and most of its inhabitants were 
put to the sword. In pursuance of this general order, 
the city was destroyed to its foundation, and even the 
ruins of the temple were demolished. The number of 
prisoners taken during the whole time of the war Josephus 
states to be ninety-seven thousand, and the number killed 
in the city during the same period was one million. The 
Jews who remained in the country now paid tribute to 
the Romans, and were entirely subject to their laws. 
Agrippa Minor was King of Judea at the time. It was 
before him that the Apostle Paul pleaded in defense of 
the gospel. The Baths of Titus and the Colosseum in 
Rome were dedicated during Titus' reign. The Colos- 
seum was begun by Vespasian but finished by Titus. 

138. Longfellow. — What American poet has given 
us the best translation we have of Dante's Divina Com- 
media? Am. Longfellow, in 1867. 



392 WHATi 



Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is the son of the Hon. 
Stephen Longfellow, of Portland, Maine, where he was 
born, February 27, 1807. At the age of fourteen he 
entered Bowdoin College, Brunswick, graduating in 1825. 
Soon after, being offered a professorship of modern lan- 
guages in his own college, and being resolved to prepare 
himself thoroughly for his new duties, he left home for 
Europe, and passed three years and a half in France, Spain, 
Italy, England, Holland, and Germany. On his return 
in 1829 he entered upon the duties of his new office. In 
1835, on the resignation of George Ticknor, he was 
elected Professor of Modern Languages and Belles-Lettres 
in Harvard College. Again he went abroad, and passed 
more than twelve months in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, 
and Switzerland. On his return to resume the duties of 
his chair, he took up his residence in the old Cragie 
House, near Mount Auburn, Cambridge, renowned as 
having been the headquarters of Washington when he 
assumed the command of the American army. Here 
Longfellow has ever since resided, though he resigned his 
professorship in 1854. His literary career began very 
early. Before leaving college he wrote a few carefully- 
finished poems for the " United States Literary Gazette," 
and while professor at Bowdoin he contributed some valu- 
able criticisms to the "North American Review." In 
1835 appeared his "Outre-Mer," a collection of traveling 
sketches and miscellaneous essays. In 1839, "Hyperion, 
a Romance," and "Voices of the Night," his first collec- 
tion of poems, appeared. He has been an industrious 
poet, and every year has sent many beautiful gems into 
the world from his pen. In 1847 came the chaste and 
simple story of Evangeline, a Puritan maiden who died in 
the attempt to find her lover, to whom she had been mar- 
ried but a few short hours when he left for the wars ; in 
1848 came " Kavanagh, a Tale"; in 1855 "The Song 
of Hiawatha," composed of Indian legends; and in 1858 
"The Courtship of Miles Standish," the captain of the 
Mayflower. There were twenty-five thousand copies of 
this sold within a month of its publication. The genius 
of our poet is as heartily recognized in England as in this 
country, and everything from his pen is eagerly caught up 



WHAT? 393 



and republished there. His popularity is richly deserved, 
for his poetry as well as his prose is marked by great 
tenderness of feeling, purity of sentiment, elevation of 
thought, and deep human interest. His genius is versa- 
tile, for he has trodden almost every path of polite litera- 
ture, and gathered gems of the rarest beauty from them 
all. He has been twice married. His first wife died in 
Rotterdam, and his second perished by fire at home, 
while playing with her children. 

139. Pliny. — What great naturalist lost his life by 
venturing too near Vesuvius? Ans. Pliny. 

Pliny (the elder) was born at Verona, of a noble family. 
He was distinguished in civil life, as well as in scientific 
pursuits. He attended to his public duties during the 
day, but the night he devoted to study. Every moment 
that could be spared from business was occupied in the 
cultivation of his mind. He turned his attention more 
particularly to nature. His work on natural history, 
comprised in thirty-seven books, is full of wisdom and 
learning. ' It takes in a wide range of topics, and is writ- 
ten in an interesting and sprightly manner, although the 
style possesses not the grace of the Augustan age. He 
wrote one hundred and sixty volumes of remarks and an- 
notations on the various authors whom he had read, but 
these have not reached us. Pliny lived during the reign 
of Vespasian, from whom he received many marks of 
favor. It was his love of knowledge that cost him his 
life. An eruption of Vesuvius happening at the time he 
lay at Misenum, where he commanded a fleet, he was 
induced to approach the mountain for the purpose of 
making observations on the interesting phenomenon. 
While thus occupied he was overtaken by the burning 
lava which poured from the volcano, and, suffocated and 
scorched, he soon perished. This memorable event hap- 
pened during the reign of Titus, in the seventy-ninth year 
of the Christian era. 

140. Deformity. — What celebrated men were noted 
for deformity or smallness of stature ? Ans. Pope was 
short and deformed. (See 4 in "Who?") Lord Byron 
had a cloven foot. (See 52 in "Who?") Pringle and 
Cleghorn, the first editors of Blackwood (see 117 in 
"What?"), were both very lame, going on crutches; 

R* 



394 WHAT? 



Thomas Moore was so small that he won the sobriquet 
of "Tom Little" (see 55 in "Who?"); and ^Esop was 
short and deformed in person. (See 23 in " Who?") 

141. The Round Table. — What was the history of 
the Round Table of King Arthur's court? A?is. In King 
Arthur's court was a huge circular marble table, at which, 
according to the old romancers, King Arthur and his 
knights were accustomed to sit. Some say there were 
only thirteen seats around it, in memory of the thirteen 
apostles. Twelve only were occupied, and by knights of 
the highest fame. The thirteenth represented the seat of 
the traitor Judas. According to others there were seats 
for fifty or sixty, and an empty place was left for the san- 
greal. Sir Agravaine, Sir Eglamour, Sir Ferumbras, Sir 
Gaheris, Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain, Sir Launcelot, Sir 
Modred, Sir Morgadour, Sir Launfal, Sir Pelleas, Sir 
Geraint were the gallant knights who had access at all 
times to the Round Table. Sir Galahad was the son of 
Sir Launcelot, who was one of the most famous knights 
of Arthur's court, and the greatest favorite the king had. 
He was called Launcelot of the Lake, because he was edu- 
cated at the court of Vivian, mistress of the enchanter 
Merlin. Vivian is better known as "Lady of the Lake." 
Launcelot is celebrated for his amours with Guinevere, the 
wife of his sovereign, King Arthur, and for the exploits 
he undertook for her sake. Sir Gawain was the nephew 
of Arthur, and was also noted for his sagacity, his habitual 
courtesy, and his wonderful strength, which is said to 
have been greater at certain hours of the day than at 
others. Sir Modred was another nephew of the good 
king, but very rebellious, and he is said fb have seduced 
the beautiful but false queen Guinevere. These twelve 
knights of the Round Table were sworn to protect women, 
chastise oppressors, liberate the enchanted, enchain giants 
and malicious dwarfs, and engage in other chivalrous ad- 
ventures. (See 181 in "Who?") 

142. Famous Horses. — What two are mentioned 
in history? Ans. Bucephalus, owned by Alexander the 
Great, and Incitatus, owned by the Roman emperor Ca- 
ligula. 

1. When Philonicus the Thessalian offered the war- 
horse Bucephalus in sale to Philip, the king, with the 



WHAT? 



395 



prince Alexander and many others, went into the field to 
see some trial made of him. The horse appeared ex- 
tremely vicious and unmanageable, and was so far from 
suffering himself to be mounted that he would not bear 
to be spoken to, but turned fiercely upon all the grooms. 
Philip was displeased at their bringing him so wild and 
ungovernable a horse, and bade them take him away. 
But the young Alexander, who had observed him well, 
said, " What a horse are they losing for want of skill and 
spirit to manage him !" Philip at first took no notice of 
this; but upon the prince's often repeating the same ex- 
pression and showing great uneasiness, he said, " Young 
man, you find fault with your elders as if you knew more 
than they, or could manage the horse better." " I cer- 
tainly could," answered the prince. " If you should not 
be able to ride him, what forfeiture will you submit to for 
your rashness?" "I will pay the price of the horse." 
Upon this all the Company laughed, but the king and 
prince agreeing to the forfeiture, Alexander ran to the 
horse, and laying hold on the bridle, turned him to 
the sun : it seems that he had observed that the shadow 
which fell before the horse, and continually moved as he 
moved, greatly disturbed him. While his fierceness and 
fury lasted he kept speaking to him softly and stroking 
him, after which he gently let fall his mantle, leaped 
lightly upon his back, and got his seat very safe. Then, 
without pulling the reins too hard, or using either whip 
or spur, he started him. As soon as he perceived his 
uneasiness abated, and that he wanted only to run, he 
put him in a full gallop, and pushed him on, both with the 
voice and spur. Philip and all his court were in great 
distress for him at first, and a profound silence took place. 
But when Alexander had turned him and brought him 
straight back, they all received him with loud acclama- 
tions, except his father, who wept for joy, and kissing 
him, said, " Seek another kingdom, my son, that may be 
worthy thy abilities, for Macedonia is too small for thee." 
This horse carried Alexander on all his war expeditions, 
and at last, in the battle with Porus, Bucephalus received 
several wounds, of which he died some time after. Alex- 
ander showed as much regret as if he had lost a faithful 



39 6 



WHA T? 



friend and companion. He esteemed him indeed as 
such ; and built a city near the Hydaspes, in the place 
where he was buried, which he called after him Bu- 
cephala. 

2. Incitatus had a royal stable built for him of mar- 
ble, and a manger of ivory. Caligula even went so far 
as to appoint it a house, furniture, and a kitchen, in 
order to entertain its visitors in a respectable manner. 
Sometimes indeed Incitatus was invited to the emperor's 
own table ; and it is said that he would have appointed 
it to the consulship, had he not been prevented by death. 
(See ii in "What?") 

143. What century is considered as having laid the 
foundation or root of all art ? Ans. The thirteenth cen- 
tury. 

144. What century was the age of thought? Ans. 
The fourteenth, for then lived Dante and Giotto. 

1. Alighieri Dante, a name abbreviated, as was the 
custom in those days, from Durante, or Durando, was of a 
very ancient Florentine family. The first of his ances- 
tors concerning whom anything certain is known was 
a Florentine knight by name of Cacciaguida, who died 
fighting in the holy war, under the German emperor 
Conrad III. Our poet was born in Florence, in May, 
1265. His mother's name was Bella, but of what family 
is no longer known. He lost his father in infancy, but 
by the advice of relatives, and with the assistance of an 
able preceptor, he applied himself closely to polite liter- 
ature and other liberal studies, at the same time omitting 
no pursuit necessary for the accomplishment of a manly 
character, and mixing with the youth of his age in all 
honorable and noble exercises. In the twenty-fourth 
year of his age, he was present at the memorable battle 
of Campaldino, where he served in the foremost troop of 
cavalry, and was exposed to imminent danger. Dante 
early displayed poetical talents, but the ambition of being 
elevated among the ruling men of his native city engaged 
him in continual discord and faction. He and his party 
were at length defeated., and with them he sought safety in 
banishment. His literary works owe their origin to his 
misfortunes and revengeful spirit. His great object seems 



WHA T? 



397 



to have been to pierce his enemies with the shafts of satire. 
The rancor of his feeling mingled itself with the sweet- 
ness and graces of poetry. His poems are characterized 
by spirit, fire, and sublimity. His triple poem of " Para- 
dise,- Purgatory, and Hell" displays wonderful powers of 
genius. Dante himself has told us that he was a lover 
long before he was a soldier, and that his passion for the 
Beatrice whom he has immortalized commenced when 
she was at the beginning and he at the end of his ninth 
year. Their first meeting was at a banquet in the house 
of Falco Portinari, her father: and the impression the 
beautiful girl then made on the constant heart of Dante 
was not obliterated by her death, which happened some six- 
teen years later. Dante and the Italian poet Petrarch were 
great friends, as were also Dante and the painter Giotto. 
Our poet was a man of middle stature and grave deport- 
ment, of a visage rather long, large eyes, an aquiline nose, 
dark complexion, large and prominent cheek-bones, black 
curly hair and beard, the under lip projecting beyond the 
upper. In his dress he studied as much plainness as was 
suitable with his rank and station in life, and observed a 
strict temperance in his diet. In 1291 he was married to 
Gemma, a lady of the noble house of the Donatii, by 
whom he had a numerous offspring. The violence of her 
temper proved the source of the bitterest suffering to him. 
He died in his fifty-seventh year, 132 1, from an affront 
which he received from the Venetians. The Prince of 
Ravenna — where he was an exile — sent him to negotiate 
with the Venetians, in order to avert a threatened war, 
but the magistrates of Venice treated the ambassador with 
contempt, and refused to receive him within their walls. 
The irritable heart of Dante was so affected by this affront 
that he could not survive it, and he died on his return to 
Ravenna. The Prince Guido showed his sorrow and re- 
spect by the sumptuousness of his obsequies, and by his 
intention to erect a monument which he did not live to 
complete. In the beginning of the next century his 
countrymen entreated that his remains might be removed 
to Florence, and be deposited among the tombs of their 
fathers. But the people of Ravenna were unwilling to 
part with the sad and honorable memorial of their own 

34 



398 WHAT? 



hospitality. Leo X. and Michael Angelo tried to nego- 
tiate for the same great favor, but with like success. 

2. Giotto, who was among the earliest of Italian painters, 
was born near Florence in 1276. Giotto was a shepherd- 
boy, keeping his father's sheep, and amusing himself by 
drawing with chalk on a stone the favorites of the flock, 
when his drawings attracted the attention of a traveler 
passing from the heights into the valley. This traveler 
proved to be none other than the well-born and highly- 
esteemed painter Cimabue, who was so delighted with the 
little lad's rough outlines that, getting the consent of 
Giotto's father, Cimabue adopted the boy, carried him 
off to Florence, introduced him to his studio, and assisted 
in making a painter out of the lad. It is also related 
that Pope Boniface VIII. requested specimens of skill 
from various artists, with a view to the appointment of a 
painter to decorate St. Peter's at Rome. Giotto, either 
in impatient disdain, or to show a careless triumph of 
skill, with one flourish of his hand, without the aid of 
compass, executed a perfect circle in red chalk, and sent 
the circle as his contribution to the specimens required 
by the Pope. The audacious specimen was accepted as 
the most conclusive, and Giotto was chosen as the Pope's 
painter for the occasion. From this incident arose the 
Italian proverb, "Round as the O of Giotto." Our 
painter was the friend of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. 
Petrarch in his will bequeathed a Madonna by Giotto to 
one of his friends, and mentioned it as a rare treasure 
of art. The impression handed down to us of Giotto's 
character is that of an independent, high-spirited man, 
full of invention and imagination, combined with shrewd- 
ness and common sense ; a man genial, and given to 
repartee. He was highly esteemed and very prosperous 
in his day. He was the head of a family, and some 
reports give him four sons and as many daughters. Giotto 
is said to be the first of the mediaeval artists who went to 
Nature for his inspiration, and painted things as they really 
existed, or occurred before his own eyes. His country- 
men cried out as at a marvel when he made the com- 
monest deed even coarsely lifelike, as in the case of a sailor 
in a boat, who turned round with his hand before his face 



WHAT? 399 



and spat into the sea. He was the first to paint a cruci- 
fixion robbed of its repelling triumph of physical power, 
investing it instead with the divinity of awe and love. 
Giotto was the founder of the earliest worthy school of 
Italian art. Among his famous works are his allegories 
in the great church at Assisi, in honor of St. Francis; a 
fragment of an old fresco which had been part of a series 
illustrating the life of John the Baptist, in the church of 
the Carmine, in Florence, a church which was destroyed 
by fire in 1771. This fragment has two fine heads of 
apostles bending sorrowfully over the body of St. John. 
It belonged to the collection of Samuel Rogers, the 
"banker poet," and is now in the National Gallery, 
London. His portrait of Dante was strangely lost for 
years, and is the finest we have of him. The portrait was 
in a painting of many contemporaries that Giotto por- 
trayed on the wall of the council chamber of Florence. 
During the banishment of Dante the wall was plastered 
or whitewashed over through the influence of his enemies, 
and though believed to exist, the picture was hidden down 
to 1840, when, after various futile efforts to recover it, 
the figures were again brought to light. In Florence is 
the matchless Campanile or bell-tower " towering over the 
dome of Brunelleschi," formed of colored marbles, for 
which Giotto framed the designs, and even executed with 
his own hands the models for the sculpture. He died 
in the year 1336 or 1337, and was buried with suitable 
honors by a city which, like the rest of the nation, has 
magnified its painters among its great men, in the church 
of Santa Maria del Fiore, where his master Cimabue had 
already been laid to rest. Lorenzo de Medicis afterwards 
placed over Giotto's tomb his effigy in marble. 

145. The Century of Drawing. — What was it? 
Meaning the most perfect rendering of form, whether in 
sculpture or painting. Ans. The fifteenth century. 

146. Artists. — What artists flourished in the fifteenth 
century ? Ans- Leonardo, Michael Angelo, Lorenzo Ghi- 
berti, and Raphael. 

1. Leonardo. (See 23-7 in "What?") 

2. Michael Angelo. (See 125 in "Who?") 

3. Lorenzo Ghiberti was born about 1378, and died 



4oo 



WHAT? 



in 1455. He was the step-son of a goldsmith, and skilled 
in chasing and enameling. When yet a lad of twenty- 
three he was chosen to design the second gate (Andrea 
Pisano had executed the first a hundred years before) for 
the baptistery of San Giovanni, or St. John the Baptist, 
attached to the cathedral in Florence. There were two 
other competitors, but they soon withdrew, magnani- 
mously proclaiming Lorenzo Ghiberti their superior. He 
took at least twenty-two years for his work, receiving for 
it eleven hundred florins. The subjects were chosen from 
the life and death of the Lord, working them out in twenty 
panels, ten on each side of the folding-doors, and below 
these were eight panels containing full-length figures of 
the four evangelists, and four doctors of the Latin Church, 
with a complete border of fruit and foliage, having heads 
of prophets and sibyls interspersed. So entire was the 
satisfaction the superb gate gave that Ghiberti was not 
merely loaded with praise, but received a commission to 
design and cast a third and central gate, which should 
surpass the others, that were thenceforth to be the side 
entrances. For his second gate Lorenzo went to the Old 
Testament for his subjects, beginning with the creation 
and ending with the meeting of Solomon and the Queen 
of Sheba, and represented them in ten compartments in- 
closed in a rich border of fruit and foliage, with twenty- 
four full-length figures of the Hebrew heroes and prophets, 
clearly and delicately designed and finished, occupying 
corresponding niches. This crowning gate engaged the 
founder upwards of eighteen years, — forty-nine years are 
given as the term of the work of both the gates. They 
were made of bronze, and Michael Angelo called them 
"worthy to be the gates of Paradise." Casts of these 
wonderful gates are to be found in the School of Art at 
Kensington, in the Crystal Palace, London, and in the 
Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia. 
4. Raphael. (See 23-8 in "What?") 
147. Age of Painting. — What century was the age 
of painting? By this we mean managing of colors. 
Ans. The sixteenth century. Tintoret, Paul Veronese, 
Titian, and Correggio represent this century. 

1. Tintoret or Tintoretto, " the little dyer," whose 



WHAT? 4 oi 



real name was JacopoRobusti, was so called in allusion to 
the occupation of his father, who was a dyer, and was born 
in Venice in 15 12. Tintoretto early foreshadowed his 
future career, by drawing all kinds of objects on the walls 
of his father's dye-house. This so delighted the father 
that he was induced to put the boy into the school of 
Titian. It is said that Titian did not choose to impart 
what could be imparted of his art to his scholars, and 
Tintoretto only remained with him a short time. There 
is a tradition that Titian expelled this scholar from his 
academy, saying of the dyer's son, that " he would never 
be anything but a dauber." Tintoretto was not to be 
daunted. He lived to be a bold-tempered, dashing man, 
and he must have been defiant even in his boyhood, as 
he was swaggering in his youth, when he set up an 
academy of his own, and inscribed over the door, " The 
drawing of Michael Angelo and the coloring of Titian." 
He had studied and taught himself from casts and theories 
since he left the school of Titian, and then with worldly 
wisdom equal to his daring he commenced his artistic 
career by accepting every commission, good or bad, and 
taking what pay he could get for his work. Unfor- 
tunately for him and the world, he executed his work 
as might have been expected, in the same heedless, in- 
discriminate spirit, acquiring the name of "II Furioso," 
from the rapidity and recklessness of his manner of paint- 
ing. Often he did not even give himself the trouble of 
making any sketch or design of his pictures beforehand, but 
composed as he painted. Tintoretto painted an immense 
number of pictures, to only three of which he appended 
his name. These were "The Crucifixion," and "The 
Miracle of the Slave," two of fifty-seven pictures which 
he painted for the school of St. Roch alone, in Venice ; the 
other was the " Marriage at Cana," in the church of Santa 
Maria della Saluto, Venice. Tintoretto was devotedly 
attached to his daughter Marietta, who was a noted por- 
trait-painter in her day. She died when thirty years of 
age, and was greatly mourned by her father. He sur- 
vived her loss but four years, dying in his eighty-second 
year, 1594. His portrait represents him as a man who 
holds his head high and resolutely, with a commonplace 

34* 



4 02 WHAT? 



face, with its massive nose, full eye, short, curly beard and 
hair. He was greatest on large canvases, where his 
coarseness was lost in his strength. In the Royal Gal- 
leries in England there are nearly a dozen of his pic- 
tures, as Charles I. was a great admirer and buyer of 
" Tintorettos." Two are at Hampton Court, "Esther 
fainting before Ahasuerus," and the " Nine Muses." 

2. Paul Veronese was born in Verona, about 1530, and 
was the son of a sculptor. He was taught by his father 
to draw and model, but he deserted this for painting, 
which he followed in the studio of an uncle. Veronese 
left Verona and went to Venice to study the works of 
Titian and Tintoretto, where he settled, finding no want of 
patronage even in a city which held the two great painters 
already mentioned. His first great work was the painting 
of the church of St. Sebastian with the scenes from the 
life of Esther. Whether he chose the subject, or whether 
it was assigned to him, it belonged even more to him than 
to Tintoretto, for Veronese was the most magnificent of the 
magnificent Venetian painters. He is said to have been 
a man of kindly spirit, generous and devout. In painting 
for churches and convents he would consent to receive 
the smallest remuneration, sometimes not more than the 
price of his colors and canvas. His " Marriage at 
Cana" is now in the Louvre, and he is thought not to 
have received more than two hundred and fifty dollars for 
it. He died when he was but fifty-eight years of age, in 
1588. He married and had sons, who were also painters. 
In 1563 he visited Rome, in the suite of the Venetian am- 
bassador, and he was invited to Spain to assist in the 
decoration of the Escurial by Philip II., but refused to 
leave his beloved Venice. While he had not " the bril- 
liance and depth of Titian," or the " prodigious facility" 
of Tintoretto, in some respects Paul Veronese surpassed 
both. He was more correct and careful in drawing, and 
his coloring was a mellowed version of the glare or dead- 
ness of Tintoretto. 

3. Titian, who was the greatest painter of the Vene- 
tian school, was born of a good family at Capo del Ca- 
dore, in northern Italy, about 1477. There is a tradition 
that while other painters made their first trials in art with 



WHAT, 



403 



chalk or charcoal, the boy Titian, who lived to be a 
glorious colorist, made his earliest efforts in painting with 
the juice of flowers. He studied in Venice, under the 
Bellinis. When a young man, Titian passed some time in 
Ferrara. There he painted his "Bacchus and Ariadne," 
and a portrait of " Lucrezia Borgia." In 1512, when 
thirty-five years of age, he was commissioned by the Ve- 
netians to continue the works in the great council-hall, 
which the advanced age of Gian Bellini kept him from 
completing. With this commission he was appointed four 
years later to the office of La Sanseria, which gave him the 
duty and privilege of painting the portraits of the doges 
as long as he held the office. This office gave him a 
salary of one hundred and twenty crowns a year. He 
lived to paint five doges. Two more would have been 
added to the list had not his failing years prevented him 
from painting them. In 15 16 Titian painted his greatest 
sacred picture, the "Assumption of the Virgin," now in 
the Academy, Venice. In the same year he painted the 
poet Ariosto. Charles V. of Spain and Pope Clement 
VII. were great patrons and admirers of Titian. Charles 
created him a Count-Palatine and a knight of the Order of 
St. Iago, with a pension of four hundred crowns a year, 
which was continued by Philip II. It is doubtful whether 
the painter ever visited the Spain of his generous patron, 
but Madrid possesses forty-three of his pictures, among 
them some of his finest works. Titian w r ent to Rome in his 
later years, but never gave up his native Venice, which had 
so lavished her favors on him. Here he lived in great 
splendor, paying annual summer visits to his birthplace, 
Cadore, and occasionally dwelling again for a time at 
Ferrara, Urbino, and Bologna. In two instances he joined 
the emperor at Augsburg. When Henry III. of France 
landed at Venice, he was entertained by Titian, then a 
very old man, and when the king asked the price of some 
pictures that pleased him, Titian at once presented them 
as a gift to his royal guest. Titian married, and had three 
children, two sons and the beautiful daughter Lavinia, 
whose portrait he so often painted, and whose name will 
live with his. Titian is said to have been a man of irri- 
table and passionate temper, and so jealous of the attain- 



404 WHAT? 



ments of his scholars that he tried to keep from them all 
the secrets of his art. He died of the plague in 1576, in 
Venice, at the age of ninety-nine. To him alone did 
Venice allow a public funeral at this terrible time. Titian, 
in certain directions and within certain limits, stands un- 
equaled. He holds a foremost rank for composition and 
for drawing, and his coloring was beyond comparison 
grand and true. He was great as a landscape-painter, 
and he was the best portrait-painter that the world ever 
saw. Titian's Madonnas were not so numerous as his 
Venuses, many of which are adjudged excellent examples 
of the master. He so often painted the fair Lavinia that 
her features are familiar to the most of us. In one portrait, 
in the Berlin Museum, she is holding a plate of fruit ; in 
another, in England, the fruit is changed to a casket of 
jewels; in the third, at Madrid, Lavinia is Herodias, and 
bears a charger with the head of John the Baptist. Can- 
vas-painting did not become usual till the time of Titian. 
Indeed, there is but one example of canvas-painting on 
record before his day. That was done in 141 4, by Luigi 
Vavarino, and is still preserved in Venice.* Among his 
portraits of men the most famous are those of the Emperor 
Charles V. and the Duke of Alva. Titian painted, and 
painted wonderfully, to the very last. He was eighty-one 
when he painted "The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence," 
one of his largest and grandest compositions. 

4. Correggio, whose real name was Antonio Allegri, 
was born about 1493, ar| d took his name from his birth- 
place, Correggio, now called Reggio. His father is be- 
lieved to have been a wejl-to-do tradesman, and the lad, 
it is thought, took from his uncle, who was a painter, a 
love for the art. For a while he had a great master in 
Andrea Montegna, but he died while Correggio was still a 
young boy. Montegna's son kept on with his father's 
school, and from him Correggio received perhaps more 
regular instruction. He early attained excellence, and 
his genius received prompt notice and patronage. He 
married at twenty-five, and received a considerable portion 
from his wife. He was appointed to paint in fresco the 



* Iconographic Encyclopaedia. 



WHAT? 



405 



cupola of the church of San Giovanni, at Parma, the year 
after his marriage, and chose for his subject the ''As- 
cension of Christ." For this work and that of the " Cor- 
onation of the Virgin," painted over the high altar, Cor- 
reggio got five hundred gold crowns, equivalent to one 
thousand five hundred pounds sterling. He was invited 
to Mantua, where he painted from the mythology for the 
Duke of Mantua. At this time the rage for mythological 
subjects was so great that one of Correggio's earliest works 
was "Diana Returning from the, Chase," painted for the 
decoration of the parlor of the abbess of the convent of 
San Paulo, Parma. Correggio was a second time called 
upon to paint a great religious work in Parma, — this time 
in the cathedral, — for which he selected " The Assump- 
tion of the Virgin." A few of the cartoons for these 
frescoes were discovered thirty or fifty years ago rolled 
up and lying forgotten in a garret in Parma; they are now 
in the British Museum. Correggio is said to have been 
modest and retiring in disposition, but not without pride 
in his art. After looking for the first time at Raphael's 
"St. Cecilia," he is said to have exclaimed, with exulta- 
tion, "And I, too, am a painter !" He left on his death 
a son and a daughter ; the former a painter of no great 
name. Like Diirer and Sir Joshua Reynolds, he left be- 
hind him his portrait painted by himself, which represents 
him as a handsome, spare man, with something of a roman- 
tic cavalier air, engaged in his chosen art. His pictures 
go to prove that under his seemingly quiet exterior he was 
a man of the liveliest sensibilities and the keenest percep- 
tions. His pictures are full of motion and excitement. 
He is spoken of as a painter who delighted " in the buoy- 
ancy of childish glee, the bliss of earthly, the fervor of 
heavenly love," whose radiant sphere of art sorrow rarely 
clouded ; but when sorrow did enter, it borrowed from 
the painter's own quivering heart the very sharpness of 
anguish. The same authority tells us that Correggio 
painted "the very heart-throbs of humanity." It seems 
that such a nature, with its self-conscious veil of forced 
stillness, must have had a tendency to vehemence and ex- 
cess ; and so we hear that the great painter's foreshorten- 
ing was sometimes violent, and the energy of his actors 



406 



WHAT? 



spasmodic. But if Correggio was really inferior in his 
sense of form and expression to his great predecessors, he 
was so superior in one department that in it he was held 
worthy not only to found the school of Parma, but to be 
classed with the first four painters of Italy. That chiaro- 
osairo, or treatment of light and shade, in which Leonardo 
and Andrea Montegna were no mean proficients, was 
brought to such perfection by Correggio that an art critic 
said, "You seem to look through Correggio's shadows 
and to see beyond them the genuine texture of the flesh." 
In undulating grace of motion, in melting softness of out- 
line, fixed on a canvas, he surpassed all rivals, including 
Raphael. Among his masterpieces, besides his frescoes, 
there is at Parma his picture called "Day," from the 
broad flood of daylight in. the picture, and probably, too, 
in distinction from his famous " Notte" (Night), in the 
Dresden Gallery. Besides this "Notte," the gallery has 
five other pictures of this wonderful artist, two of which 
are the marriage of St. Catharine as the Church, and 
another, the Magdalen reading, half shrouded with her 
flowing hair, so w T ell known by engravings and Prang's 
chromos of it. There are in the English National Gallery 
some fine specimens of Correggio, among them an "Ecce 
Homo" : Christ crowned with thorns, holding out his 
bound hands, with a Roman soldier softening into pity, 
Pilate hardening in indifference, and the Virgin fainting 
with sorrow; " The Virgin with the Basket," so named 
from the little basket in front of the picture; a "Holy 
Family" ; and " Mercury Teaching Cupid to Read in the 
Presence of Venus." He died in 1534. 

148. "We" and "I." — What sovereign first began 
using the plural " we" for the singular " I" in his edicts? 
A?is. King John of England. The German and French 
monarchs followed the example of King John in 1200. 
(See 13 in " What?") 

149. Domitian. — What emperor amused himself in 
his leisure hours with catching and killing flies? Am. 
Domitian. (See 218-12 in " Who?") 

150. "Ladies' Canvass." — What is thus known in 
England ? Ans. It was during the election of Fox against 
Sir Cecil Wray, in 1784. This election is one of the most 



WHAT? 



407 



famous of the old riotous political demonstrations. Fox 
wished to be returned for Westminster, and George III. 
had always disapproved of him. There were twenty- 
thousand votes to be polled, and the opposing parties 
resorted to any means of intimidation or violence or 
persuasion which political enthusiasm could suggest. On 
the eighth day the poll was against the popular member, 
Charles James Fox (see 223 in "Who?"), who was a 
great Whig, and he called upon his friends to make an 
extra exertion in his behalf. It was then that the "la- 
dies' canvass" began. Lady Duncannon, the Duchess of 
Devonshire, Mrs. Crewe, and Mrs. Damer (the sculp- 
tress), dressed themselves in blue and buff, the colors of 
the American Independents, which Fox had adopted and 
wore in the House of Commons, and set out to visit the 
purlieus of Westminster. Here in their enthusiasm they 
shook the dirty hands of honest workmen, expressed the 
greatest interest in their wives and families, and even, as 
in the case of the Duchess of Devonshire and the butcher, 
submitted their fair cheeks to be kissed by the possessors 
of votes. Owing to the activity and zeal of these four 
women the election, after lasting forty-seven days, termi- 
nated in favor of Fox, who came in by two hundred and 
thirty-five votes. 

151. Decemviri of Rome. — What was it? Ans. It 
consisted of ten persons, who were elected to form a code 
of laws, and were invested with absolute power for one 
year, during which time all other magistrates were sus- 
pended. They afterwards caused their laws to be en- 
graven on twelve tables and placed in the most conspicuous 
part of the city. These laws were long preserved and 
acted upon, and to this day are respected in some parts 
of Europe. The Romans had no code of laws until that 
formed and digested by the Decemviri, 451 B.C. Each 
Decemvir by turn presided one day, and had the sovereign 
authority, with the insignia, the Fasces. (See 119 in 
"What?") The other nine acted solely as judges in the 
determining of law cases and the correcting of abuses. 
It lasted only three years. 

152. Retreat. — What is considered as the most re- 
markable on record ? Ans. That of ten thousand Greeks 



4o8 



WHAT? 



under Xenophon, from Babylon to the banks of the 
Euxine Sea, after the battle of Cunaxa. It was accom- 
plished in a few months, the soldiers traversing a hostile 
region of one thousand six hundred miles, and with des- 
erts, hills, rivers, mountains, and even the sea before 
them, losing only one thousand five hundred men. This 
was 401 B.C. (See 145 in "Who?") 

153. Second Punic War. — What battle decided it? 
Ans. That of Zama, in Africa. (See 146 in " Who?") 

154. Capua. — What celebrated army lost much of its 
virtue by being allowed to winter in this luxuriant city? 
Ans. The Carthaginian army under Hannibal. Having 
won the battle of Cannae, they could easily have marched 
directly to Rome and taken it; but instead of following 
up their advantage, they lingered at Capua, where effemi- 
nacy and vice spread demoralization among them, unfit- 
ting them for martial duties. (See 32-3 in "What?") 

155. Cockney School of Literature. — What great 
men composed it? Ans. Leigh Hunt, John Keats, Wil- 
liam Hazlitt, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. 

1. James Henry Leigh Hunt was born in London, 
October 16, 1784, and educated at Christ Church Hos- 
pital, where he continued till his fifteenth year. He then 
entered the office of an attorney ; next became a clerk in 
the War Office, and finally decided to make literature his 
profession. In 1805 his brother John established a paper 
called " The News," for which our author wrote the theat- 
rical criticisms, which were well received. Three years 
afterwards he joined with his brother in setting up the 
weekly paper called "The Examiner." The noble and 
independent spirit in which it was conducted, as well as 
the talent and scholarship it -displayed, soon drew all eyes 
upon it, and it took a very high rank, and exerted a wide 
influence. It spoke out very freely against the measures 
of the government, and three times the proprietors were 
prosecuted for libel, but were acquitted. The fourth time 
they were not so fortunate; for when the "Morning 
Post," which then affected to be the organ of the court, 
in its usual style of fulsome flattery eulogized the Prince 
Regent (afterwards George IV.), whose character was no- 
toriously infamous, and called him among other things an 



WHAT? 



409 



" Adonis," " The Examiner" retorted in anything but a 
flattering style, exposing his baseness and meanness in the 
plainest way. For this a prosecution was instituted 
against the Hunt brothers, and the jury found a verdict 
of guilty. They were fined a thousand pounds, which 
with costs amounted to two thousand pounds, and impris- 
oned for two years in separate cells. Offers were made 
by the government not to press either penalty if a pledge 
would be given that no similar attack should appear in 
their paper ; but these were firmly and nobly rejected. 
Though ill when he entered prison, and though his health 
continued to suffer during his confinement, Leigh Hunt 
did not remain idle. He wrote and amused himself in 
various ways. His room was tastefully fitted up, and he 
says his friends were much surprised on entering at the 
elegance of his apartment. He had pictures and books, 
flowers, and even a piano to while away his lonely hours. 
When he left prison he published his Italian tale, in verse, 
of "Story of Rimini," containing some exquisite lines 
and passages. He set up also a small weekly paper called 
" The Indicator," on the plan of the periodical essayists, 
which was well received. In 1822 he went to Italy to re- 
side with Lord Byron, returned in 1816, and in 1828 pub- 
lished "Lord Byron and his Contemporaries," a record 
of his brief and not very pleasant companionship with his 
lordship in Italy. In the same year he started the " Com- 
panion," a sequel to "The Indicator." In 1834 he pub- 
lished a collected edition of his poetical works, and began 
editing the " London Journal" that same year, which he 
only continued for two years. The remainder of his life 
was passed in literary projects ; in getting into debt and 
getting out of it ; in pleasant communing with his numer- 
ous literary friends, among whom were Barry Cornwall 
(see 9 in "Who?"), Thomas Carlyle, the Brownings, 
and many others ; in attempts to live cheerfully under 
affliction ; and, chief of all, in accumulating book-lore. 
His closing years were rendered more happy by an oppor- 
tune pension of two hundred pounds a year, which Lord 
John Russell obtained for. him. He died on the 28th of 
August, 1859, and was buried, according to his wish, in 
Kensal Green Cemetery. While he was in prison Charles 
s 35 



4 lo WHAT? 



Lamb visited him almost daily ; and Moore, Byron, Haz- 
litt, Shelley, and Jeremy Bentham came often to enliven 
his solitude with their bright chat. His principal works 
are " Wit and Humor ; selected from the English Poets" ; 
" Stories from the Italian Poets," with lives of the writers; 
" Captain Sword and Captain Pen" ; " Classic Tales" ; 
etc. 

2. John Keats. (See 77-2 in "What?") 

3. William Hazlitt, a distinguished critic and mis- 
cellaneous writer, was the son of a Unitarian minister of 
Shropshire, and was born on the 10th of April, 1778. 
After having received his academical education at the 
college in Hackney, in Middlesex, he commenced life as a 
painter, and by this means gained an accurate knowledge 
of the principles .of the art. He however soon left the 
pencil for the pen, and instead of painting pictures, it be- 
came his delight to criticise them. After having made 
various contributions to the periodical journals, he pub- 
lished an essay on the " Principles of Human Action," a 
work which displayed considerable ingenuity and acute- 
ness. This was followed in 1808 by "The Eloquence of 
the British Senate," a selection of the best parliamentary 
speeches since the time of Charles I., with notes, in two 
volumes octavo. In 1810 appeared his "New and Im- 
proved English Grammar, for the Use of Schools," in 
which are incorporated the discoveries of Mr. Home 
Tooke and other modern writers on the formation of lan- 
guage. In 181 7 was published "The Round Table," a 
collection of essays on men, literature, and manners, 
which had previously appeared in Hunt's "Examiner." 
These were succeeded by his lectures on the " Characters 
of Shakspeare's Plays," "A View of the English Stage," 
and " Lectures on English Poetry," which he delivered at 
the Surrey Institution. After this appeared from time to 
time his contributions to various periodicals, under the 
titles of "Table-Talk," the "Spirit of the Age," the 
"Plain Speaker," and the "Literature of the Eliza- 
bethan Age." His largest and most elaborate work is his 
"Life of Napoleon," in four volumes, which was pub- 
lished in 1828, a production which has given him a high 
rank among the philosophers and historians of the present 



WHAT? 



411 



age. Hazlitt also contributed many articles to the " Edin- 
burgh Review, " some of which possess great merit. He 
continued to write and publish till the year of his death, 
which took place on the 18th of September, 1830. His 
writings display much originality and genius, united with 
great critical acuteness and brilliancy of fancy. In the 
fine arts, the drama, and dramatic literature, he was con- 
sidered one of the ablest critics of the day. His essays 
are full of wisdom, and one cannot peruse them without 
gaining fresh ideas for thought. With so many good 
qualities it is sad to reflect on the pettiness of some of his 
characteristics. He was violent and petulant in temper ; 
selfish and jealous of his friends and his own reputation. 
His domestic relations were anything but harmonious, 
and he was divorced from his wife. After this he fell 
passionately in love with a young woman in the lower 
walks of life, who was endowed with strong intellectual 
qualities. She led him on by every art in her power, en- 
tering into his studies and pursuits with a great deal of 
interest, and he fully expected to marry her. It was a 
blow from which he never recovered to find that her affec- 
tions were really given to a man in the same station of 
life as herself, and that while encouraging Hazlitt she had 
secret meetings with her lover. He did not seek to dis- 
guise his misfortune, and so great was his grief that he be- 
came almost maniacal, and poured it out to any one who 
would listen. He even published the whole story to the 
world in his "Modern Pygmalion," and thus exposed 
himself to any amount of ridicule. On his death-bed 
he was worn out with pecuniary embarrassments ; was 
deeply dejected and filled with misanthropy. It is said 
of him, " That Hazlitt had absolutely nothing to sup- 
port and cheer him ; no hope ; no fortune ; no status in 
society ; no certain popularity as a writer ; no domes- 
tic peace; little sympathy from kindred spirits ; little 
support from his political party ; no moral management ; 
no definite belief; with great powers and great passions 
within, and with a host of powerful enemies without, it 
was his to enact one of the saddest tragedies on which the 
sun ever shone. Such is a faithful portraiture of an ex- 
traordinary man, whose restless intellect and stormy pas- 



4 I2 WHAT? 



sions have at last found that repose in a grave which was 
denied above it. Both enemies and friends concede now 
to join in admiration for the man, in pronouncing him a 
subtle thinker, an eloquent writer, a lover of beauty and 
poetry, and a man of truth ; one of the best of critics, 
and not the worst of men, was William Hazlitt." Charles 
Lamb was a warm friend and great admirer of Hazlitt. 
4. Percy Bysshe Shelley. (See 21-5 in "What?") 

156. Animals. — What are the only five of equal merit 
with their human figures that the ancients have left us ? 
Ans. The Barberini goat, the Tuscan boar, the Mattei 
eagle, the eagle at Strawberry Hill, and Mr. Jennings's, 
now Mr. Duncombe's, dog. 

157. American Declaration of Independence. — 
What are the names of its signers? Ans. There were 
fifty-six signers, among whom thirty-seven were colle- 
giates, twenty lawyers, four physicians, five clergymen, 
three farmers, and the remainder engaged in various mer- 
cantile pursuits, except Roger Sherman, the shoemaker, 
and Benjamin Franklin, who boasted of being a printer, 
yet was a statesman and philosopher. Franklin was the 
oldest signer and Edward Rutledge the youngest. Their 
names were as follows: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, 
Josiah Bartlett, John Hancock, Elbridge Gerry, Robert 
Morris (the richest), Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, 
Edward Rutledge, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Rush, 
Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, John Morton, James 
Wilson, William Floyd, George Taylor, Thomas Stone, 
William Paca, John Penn, Francis Lewis, William Whip- 
ple, Samuel Chase, George Ross, John Witherspoon, 
Philip Livingston, Francis Hopkinson, George Walton, 
Lyman Hall, Button Gwinnett, *\braham Clark, John 
Hart, Richard Stockton, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter 
Braxton, Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean, 
Thomas Hey ward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Lewis Morris, 
Samuel Adams, Oliver Wolcott, James Smith, George Cly- 
mer, Samuel Huntingdon, George Wythe, Arthur Mid- 
dleton, Stephen Hopkins, Benjamin Harrison, Matthew 
Thornton, Thomas Nelson, Jr., William Ellery, Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton, William Williams, Robert Treat 
Paine. 



WHAT? 



413 



158. Charles II. of England. — What king was so 
polite that he asked pardon of those who were around 
him for being so long in dying? Ans. Charles II. of 
England. 

Charles II. came to the throne after the abdication of 
Richard Cromwell, — son of Oliver, — 1660. Charles was 
thirty years of age when he began to reign, and he made 
a favorable impression on his subjects by means of his 
personal appearance and accomplishments, and of the su- 
perior character of his intellect. He was easy in man- 
ners, unaffectedly polite, gay in his temper, lively, witty, 
and a great observer of men and things. To these many 
good qualities he added others that were not calculated to 
place his character above reproach. He was base and un- 
principled, and became at length immersed in pleasure 
and indolence. He was personally a favorite with his 
subjects, and continued to be so, although the govern- 
ment become unpopular after the king was so involved in 
private gratification as to forget the true interest of his 
realm. He escaped the reproaches which he merited, 
and most of the odium of extravagance and unsuccessful 
public measures fell on his advisers. The whole royal 
party were so elated at the return of their sovereign that 
they were involved in thoughtless jollity, and many of 
the republicans, especially the younger portion and the 
women, were glad to be released from the gloomy austerity 
of the Commonwealth. During this reign dissipation and 
infidelity became greatly prevalent. Charles was distin- 
guished by the same arbitrary notions which had prevailed 
with his ancestors ; but though there were many strug- 
gles like those in the preceding reigns, a surprising change 
had taken place in the feeling of the people in general, in 
consequence of which he escaped the fate of his father. 
The slavish doctrines of passive obedience and non- 
resistance now came into repute, opposed, indeed, by the 
enemies of the crown. This was the origin of the dis- 
tinguishing epithets of Whig and Tory, — the former op- 
posing the crown, the latter supporting it. This is a 
distinction of parties still existing. The Whigs have 
always favored the rights of the people, the Tories those 
of the monarch. In consequence of high-church or 

35* 



414 



WHAT? 



Tory principles, an act of uniformity in religion was 
passed, by which two thousand Presbyterian ministers 
were deprived of their livings. We may enumerate 
among the other events of this reign the act of in- 
demnity, by which ten only out of twenty-eight, who 
were tried and condemned for the murder of Charles I., 
were devoted to death ; the sale of Denmark for four 
hundred thousand pounds, required by the prodigality of 
Charles, and which he soon squandered upon his pleasures; 
the war with the Dutch, which, after an immense expen- 
diture, was productive of no material benefit; and the 
measures excited by the influence of the Duke of York, — 
afterwards James II. , — consisting of numerous attacks 
upon the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, 
mingled with party intrigues, plots, and conspifacies. 
Before the reign of Charles expired, the Whigs became 
predominant in the Parliament, and raging furiously 
against the Catholics, insisted on the king's assent to 
the bill for the exclusion of his brother, the Duke of 
York. This affair induced Charles to dissolve two Parlia- 
ments in succession. The consequence was, England was 
thrown into a flame. But Charles promptly took meas- 
ures to crush or intimidate the opponents of the court. 
Lord Russell, who had been conspicuous for his opposi- 
tion to the Popish succession, Algernon Sydney, and sev- 
eral other distinguished Protestants, were tried, con- 
demned, and executed. The ground of proceeding 
against them was a pretended conspiracy in favor of re- 
form, called the Rye-House Plot. Though Charles was 
a genius, he acted in direct opposition to every principle 
of sound policy. He chose rather to be a pensioner of 
France, from whose king he received two hundred thou- 
sand pounds a year for the concealed purposes of estab- 
lishing Popery and despotic power, than the arbiter of 
Europe. Rochester said of him, that he "never said a 
foolish thing, and never did a wise one." Charles had a 
constant maxim, which was, never to fall out with any, let 
the provocation be ever so great; by which, he observed, 
he had found great benefit all his life; and the reason he 
gave for it was, that he did not know how soon it might 
be necessary for him to have them again for his best 



WHAT? 



415 



friends. It has been also observed of him, that had he 
loved business as well as he understood it he would have 
been the greatest prince in Europe. It was thought that 
Charles, having been guilty of arbitrary conduct, intended 
to take some measures for the future quiet of his reign, 
when he was seized with a sudden fit of illness, and, after 
languishing a few days, expired, in 1685, in the fifty-fifth 
year of his age and the twenty-fifth year of his reign. 

159. Heart of Robert Bruce. — What abbey con- 
tains it? Ans. Melrose Abbey, in Scotland. 

The heart of Robert Bruce is deposited near the high 
altar, under the east window, and was put there after the 
unsuccessful effort of Douglas to carry it to the Holy 
Land. Melrose Abbey is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, 
and, besides the heart of Bruce, it contains the remains 
of kings, knights, and prelates. In the chancel is in- 
terred Alexander II., one of the greatest of Scottish 
monarchs. Robert Bruce was a grandson of the Bruce 
who was the competitor of Baliol, and redeemed the 
honor of his country. Resenting its humiliation, he set 
up the standard of war. The genius of the nation then 
roused itself, and, throwing off the English yoke, Bruce 
was crowned King of the Scots at Scone, in 1306. 

160. Westminster Abbey. — What associatiens are 
connected with it? Ans. In this old abbey are buried 
nearly all the English kings, queens, and princes, from 
the time of Edward the Confessor, 1041, to George II., 
1727. The abbey is Gothic in architecture, and was 
founded in the seventh century by Sebert, King of the 
East Saxons, in 610 ; it was destroyed by the Danes, and 
rebuilt by King Edgar in 958. Edward the Confessor 
again rebuilt and enlarged it in 1045, an( ^ commenced 
building the present church, which was continued by Ed- 
ward I. as far as the extremity of the choir; the nave and 
east part were erected in succeeding reigns, but the most 
remarkable addition made to it was the chapel of Henry 
VII. In the great civil war it was used as a barracks for 
the soldiers of Parliament, and much injured. Sir Chris- 
topher Wren was intrusted with the restoration of it, 
and added the two towers at the west end. (See 108 in 
"Who?") 



41 6 WHAT? 



161. The Alhambra. — What is it? Ans. It is a 
Moorish palace, whose beauties have been celebrated by- 
all travelers, and most admirably illustrated by the pen of 
Washington Irving. The Alhambra, or the red castles, as 
it is often called, is in Spain, two hundred and twenty- 
four miles south of Madrid, and is a suburb of Granada. 
Situated in the midst of noble woods, surrounded by gar- 
dens, and built with sumptuousness, and yet with taste, this 
beautiful spot, once the home of the Moorish kings, con- 
tains everything that could contribute to the security and 
gratification of the Granadian princes. The Hall of Lions 
is the grand apartment of the palace ; it is so called from 
a splendid fountain supported by lions, and is entirely 
constructed of marble and alabaster, and ornamented with 
the most delicate fretwork and arabesques. The Hall of 
the Abencerrages is still more beautiful. The ceiling is 
of cedar-wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, ivory, and 
silver, and the walls are stuccoed and ornamented with 
arabesques of the most elegant and intricate designs. The 
colors still retain their brilliancy, and the delicate filigree 
and tracery are in perfect order, after a lapse of over five 
hundred years. The principal building was begun by 
Ibn-al-Ahmar in 1248, and finished by his grandson, Mo- 
hammed III., about 1314, but the principal decorator was 
Yusuf I. Since the Castilian conquest of Granada, it has 
undergone a series of disfigurements almost without inter- 
ruption. Charles V. modernized some of its most charac- 
teristic portions in order to fit it for his own residence. 
Successive governors afterwards pillaged it. The French 
blew up eight of the towers, and tried to demolish the 
whole, and it is only within ten years that it has received 
intelligent care. The palace is now under the charge of 
a governor and a number of invalid soldiers. Owen Jones 
has published a work, richly illustrated, on the ornamenta- 
tion and architecture of the Alhambra. 

162. Egyptian History. — At what event were the 
materials for Egyptian history lost to the world ? Ans. 
At the burning of the library at Alexandria about 640. 

163. Shakspeare. — What are his first and last origi- 
nal dramas? Ans. " Two Gentlemen of Verona," writ- 
ten in 1570, and "The Tempest," written in 1611. 



WHAT? 417 



164. Women. — In what country are they forbidden 
society and unknown at court ? Ans. In Japan. 

165. Games. — Into what nation were they never in- 
troduced ? Ans. Into the Israelite. 

166. Woman's Mantilla. — What country holds it 
sacred by law ? Ans. Spain, and it cannot be sold for 
debt. 

167. President's Cabinet. — Of what does it con- 
sist ? Ans. Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, 
Secretary of War, Secretary of the Navy, Attorney-Gen- 
eral, Postmaster-General, Secretary of the Interior. 

168. Steamboat. — What was the name of the first that 
sailed on the Hudson River? Ans. The "Clermont." 
This was the first satisfactory use of steam navigation. 
The " Clermont" was built by Robert Fulton, an Amer- 
ican inventor, in 1807. It traveled at the astonishingly 
rapid rate of five miles an hour. Robert Fulton was born 
at Little Britain, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1765, 
and died in New York, February 24, 1815. When only 
three years old he lost his father. He received a com- 
mon-school education, and went to Philadelphia at the 
age of seventeen, and became a miniature-painter. Me- 
chanical pursuits, however, mingled with those of the 
artist. Before he attained his majority he had laid by a 
sum sufficient to buy a small farm, upon which he placed 
his mother, and soon afterwards went to London to study 
under the painter West, with whom he remained several 
years. Afterwards he became acquainted with the Duke 
of Bridgewater, at whose instance he adopted the pro- 
fession of civil engineer. He had in the mean time 
become acquainted with Earl Stanhope, who was engaged 
on a scheme of steam navigation. This also took Ful- 
ton's fancy, and in 1793 ne wrote the duke, suggesting 
some of the views which he afterwards reduced to prac- 
tice on the Hudson. While in Paris, in 1797, he devised 
the submarine boat, afterwards styled the Nautilus, con- 
nected with which were submarine bombs, now known as 
torpedoes. This invention he offered several times to the 
French government, and once to the Dutch ambassador 
at Paris, without exciting their favorable attention. In 
1814 Congress authorized the President to build and 

s* 



4 i 8 WHAT? 



employ one or more floating batteries for coast defense, 
and Fulton was employed as the engineer. He imme- 
diately commenced the construction of a war-steamer, 
which was launched in four months, and which was called 
by the constructor the Demologos, though afterwards it 
was named Fulton the First. This first steamer was a 
heavy and unwieldy mass, which obtained a speed against 
the current of some two and a half miles an hour; but 
as the pioneer of the steam navies of the world it was 
regarded as a marvel, and as a most formidable engine 
of defense. 

169. Fulvia. — What woman pierced the tongue of the 
dead Cicero with a needle ? Ans. Fulvia, a Roman 
lady. 

Fulvia was born about 80, died about 40, B.C. She was 
married successively to Clodius, Curio, and Mark Antony, 
and had part in arranging the fearful proscription of the 
second triumvirate. When the head of Cicero was 
brought to her, she pierced the tongue with her needle. 
To withdraw Antony from Egypt, where the charms of 
Cleopatra detained him, and to take revenge upon Oc- 
tavius (Augustus Caesar), who had affronted her by di- 
vorcing his wife, her daughter, Clodia, she excited her 
brother-in-law, Lucius Antonius, to make war upon Oc- 
tavius. The war being unsuccessful, Fulvia escaped to 
Athens, where Antony met her and reproached her bit- 
terly. She died of shame and regret at Sicyon. 

170. Siege of Hansburg. — At what siege did the 
women carry their husbands out of the city gates on their 
backs? Ans. Conrad III., King of Germany, in 1138, 
made war against Guelphus, Duke of Bavaria, and laid 
siege to the city of Hansburg. The women, finding that 
the town could not possibly hold out long, petitioned the 
emperor that they might be allowed to depart out of it 
with so much as each of them could carry. Conrad, 
knowing they could not convey away many of their ef- 
fects, granted the petition, when, to his great surprise, 
the women came out of the place with every one her 
husband on her back. The emperor was so moved at 
the sight that he burst into tears, and after having very 
much extolled the women for their conjugal affection, gave 



what? 4 i 9 



the men to their wives, and received the duke again into 
his favor. 

171. Koran in Mosaics. — What temple is said to 
have the whole Koran written on the walls in mosaics ? 
Ans. The celebrated Taj Mahal, in British India. 

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum in Agra, — a city one hun- 
dred and fifteen miles southeast of Delhi, and seven hun- 
dred and eighty-three miles northwest of Calcutta, — and 
was built by Jehan for himself and his wife Noor Mahal, 
in the construction of which twenty thousand men are 
said to have been employed twenty-two years. The cost 
was estimated at over four million dollars. It is of white 
marble, one hundred feet in diameter, and two hundred 
feet in height, built in the form of an irregular octagon, 
and rising from a high marble terrace, which rests' upon 
another of red sandstone. At the corners of the marble 
terrace are lofty minarets, and in the centre of the main 
building rises a dome, flanked by cupolas of similar form. 
Both the interior and exterior are decorated with mo- 
saics of precious stones, and the most beautiful tracery. 
The whole Koran (see 113 in " Who ?' ' ) is said to be writ- 
ten in mosaics of precious stones on the interior walls. 
The sarcophagi of Jehan and Noor Mahal lie in the crypt 
below. 

172. Eminent Men. — What year gave birth to more 
than any other on record? Ans. The year 1769. 

Three of them were destined to have a wonderful in- 
fluence on one another. Napoleon, Marshal Ney, and 
the Duke of Wellington played foot-ball with each other's 
lives. Sir Thomas Lawrence, Cuvier, Sir Walter Scott, 
and Humboldt are some of the most important names of 
the twenty-six celebrated men who were born during the 
year 1769. 

1. Napoleon. (See 32 in " What?") 

2. Ney. (See 154 in "Who?") 

3. Wellington. (See 182 in "Who?") 

4. Sir Thomas Lawrence was born at Bristol, in 
1769. His father was an inn-keeper in the town of De- 
vizes, and his son Thomas, a remarkably beautiful child, 
early showed signs of his great genius by taking the like- 
nesses of his father's customers. He was so praised for 



420 



WHAT? 



his wonderful proficiency that at the age of ten we read of 
his actually establishing himself at Oxford, as a portrait- 
painter in crayons. He had a brother, a clergyman, in 
Oxford, who encouraged and assisted him. It was not long 
ere he took a house at Bath, and entered upon a flourishing 
business at once. Here he remained till he was nineteen, 
then went to London, and became a student in the Acad- 
emy. He had before this given up his crayon and taken to 
oil-painting. Lawrence was as remarkable for his personal 
appearance as for his precocious talent, being in youth 
what he had been in childhood, noted for his winning man- 
ners, his affectionate ways, his fine figure, and handsome 
face. The students of the Academy thought that another 
Raphael had entered their ranks, and strove which of them 
should be most devoted to the new-comer with " chestnut 
locks flowing on his shoulders." When only twenty-two 
he was given, at the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the 
position as painter to King George III. Praise from every 
side, and so little censure, was exceedingly detrimental 
to the young painter, and he neither went to Italy — till 
middle life — to study the great masters, nor did he ex- 
periment, or alter his method, though as he advanced in 
fame and in life he painted more slowly and took greater 
pains with his work. He had so great a reputation as a 
portrait-painter that he was able only to paint the heads 
of his sitters, leaving the figure to his assistants. After 
1820 he received two hundred and ten pounds for a head, 
four hundred and twenty pounds for a half-length, and 
six hundred and thirty pounds for a full-length. For his 
picture of Lady Gower and child he was given fifteen 
hundred guineas. Lawrence enjoyed the greatest popu- 
larity, and was so fascinating to his contemporaries that 
even they failed to criticise his works as they deserved. 
Sir Joshua Reynolds was one of his greatest admirers. 
He was very fond of ladies' society, and was consequently 
petted and flattered by them in a way that gratified him, 
and no doubt pleased them. It appears that he had an 
admiration for the actress Mrs. Siddons, and in conse- 
quence concluded to marry one of her daughters, but 
could not make up his mind which one to take. The fond 
mother, provoked at his hesitation, forbade him to ad- 



WHAT? 421 



dress either. Sir Thomas never married. Besides being 
knighted, he was made a full member of the Academy, 
then president ; also a member of the Academy of St. 
Luke, at Rome, and created a Chevalier of the Legion 
of Honor. He was sent by the Regent to Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle to paint the allied sovereigns, as a nucleus of the 
Waterloo Gallery, at Windsor. From here he visited 
Vienna and Rome, — a great journey in those days, — and 
at the latter place painted his two best portraits, those of 
the Pope and Cardinal Gonsalvi. Lawrence, notwith- 
standing his large income, was, by his extravagant habits, 
always in pecuniary embarrassments. He had a fine art 
collection, with many drawings by the great masters, which 
cost him sixty thousand pounds. He died in his sixty- 
second year, in 1830, at his residence in Russell Square, 
London. Three-fourths of the nobility and gentry of 
England and Scotland, and many members of the Eng- 
lish royal family, including Princess Charlotte and her 
husband Prince Leopold, sat to Lawrence for their por- 
traits. 

5. Cuvier. (See 68 in "Who?") 

6. Scott. (See 3 in " Who ?") 

7. Baron von Humboldt was born in Berlin, on 
the 14th of September, 1769. He was a German savant 
and traveler, and bore the name of Friedrich Heinrich 
Alexander von Humboldt, and was the son of Major von 
Humboldt, who served as an adjutant or aid-de-camp to 
the Duke of Brunswick during the Seven Years' war. In 
1786 he entered the University of Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 
where he studied natural science and political economy. 
He became a pupil of Heyne, Blumenbach, and Eich- 
horn, at Gottingen, in 1788. In 1790 he traveled in 
France, Holland, and England, and published a treatise 
" On the Basalts of the Rhine." He studied mineralogy 
under Werner, at Freiberg, in 1791, and was appointed 
director-general of the mines of Anspach and Baireuth, 
in 1792. In the same year he published a work on sub- 
terranean plants, " Specimen Florae subterraneae Friber- 
gensis." At an early age he cherished a passion to visit 
far-distant and unexplored regions of the globe. With 
this view he resigned his office about 1 796, and passed some 

36 



422 WHAT? 



time at Jena, where he formed friendships with Goethe 
and Schiller. His reputation was extended by a treatise 
'■'On the Irritability of Muscles and Nervous Fibres." 
In June, 1799, ne joined Aime Bonpland in a voyage of 
discovery to South America. They spent some four years 
in the exploration of the northern part of South America, 
especially those portions which are drained by the Ori- 
noco and the Rio Negro. They ascended the Magdalena 
as far as they could by water, and penetrated by land to 
Quito. In June, 1802, they ascended Chimborazo to a 
point nineteen thousand feet or more above the level of 
the sea, the highest part of the Andes ever reached by 
man. They passed nearly a year in the exploration of 
Mexico, — a land full of romantic associations to lovers 
of the old and curious, — visited the United States, and 
returned to Europe after an absence of some five years. 
Later Humboldt became a resident of Paris, where he re- 
sided for twenty years, the greater part of which he spent 
in digesting and publishing the results of his observations. 
In this task he was assisted by Bonpland, Cuvier, Kunth, 
Arago, and others. Between 1807 and 181 7 they pub- 
lished, in French, a "Journey to the Equinoctial Regions 
of the New Continent" (3 vols.), " Astronomical Obser- 
vations and Measurements by the Barometer" (2 vols.), 
"View of the Cordilleras, and Monuments of the Indige- 
nous People of America," and other works. Humboldt 
made an important contribution to botanical geography 
by his Latin work "On the Geographical Distribution of 
Plants according to the Temperature and Altitude." 
An English translation of his "Personal Narrative of 
Travels" was made by Helen Maria Williams, in five 
volumes. In 1826 he removed to Berlin, and received, 
with the title of Councillor, many marks of royal favor. 
At the request of Nicholas, Emperor of Russia, and at his 
expense, Humboldt, Ehrenberg, and Rose made in 1829 
a scientific exploration of Asiatic Russia. Among the 
results of this extensive expedition was an excellent work 
by Humboldt, entitled " Central Asia : Researches on the 
Chains of Mountains and the Comparative Climatology." 
He was sent to Paris on several political missions by the 
King of Prussia between 1830 and 1848. In this city, 



WHAT? 



423 



when past his seventy-fourth year, he composed his cele- 
brated work called " Cosmos ; Essay of a Physical Descrip- 
tion of the Universe," in four volumes. The " Edinburgh 
Review" spoke in the highest terms of this "Cosmos," 
and said, "Science has produced no man of more rich 
and varied attainments, and Humboldt, of all persons 
in Europe, is best fitted to undertake and accomplish such 
a work. No one is more versatile in genius, more inde- 
fatigable in application to all kinds of learning, more en- 
ergetic in action, or more ardent in inquiry, and, we may 
add, more ardent in his cause in every period of a long 
life." He received from the French government the title 
of grand officer of the Legion of Honor, and was a mem- 
ber of all the principal Academies of the world. Another 
work of his is "Aspects of Nature," in two volumes. 
Von Humboldt died in Berlin, on the 6th of May, 1859, 
in his ninetieth year.. 

173. Friday. — What memorable events happened on 
this day of the week? Ans. On Friday, August 3, 1492, 
Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain on his voyage of 
discoveries. On Friday, October 12, 1492, ten weeks 
later, he discovered our own loved land of America. On 
Friday, January 4, 1493, ne sailed on his return to Spain, 
carrying the good news of discovery with him. On Fri- 
day, March 15, 1493, he arrived in safety at Palos. On 
Friday, November 22, 1493, he arrived at Hispaniola, in 
his second voyage to America. On Friday, June 13, 
1494, he discovered the continent of America, though 
unknown to himself. On Friday, March 5, 1456, Henry 
VII. of England gave to John Cabot his commission, 
which led to the discovery of North America. This is 
the first American state paper in England. On Friday, 
September 7, 1565, Melendez founded St. Augustine, the 
oldest settlement in the United States by more than forty 
years. On Friday, November 10, 1620, the Mayflower, 
with the Pilgrims on board, made the harbor of Prov- 
incetown. On Friday, December 22, 1620, the Pilgrims 
made their final landing on Plymouth Rock. On Friday, 
June 16, 1775, Bunker Hill was seized and fortified. On 
Friday, October 7, 1777, the surrender of Saratoga was 
made, which had the effect of inducing la belle France to 



424 



WHAT? 



declare for our cause. On Friday, September 22, 1780, 
the treason of Arnold was laid bare, which saved us from 
destruction. On Friday, October 19, 1781, the surrender 
of Yorktown was proclaimed, the crowning glory of 
American arms. Last, and best, on Friday, June 7, 1776, 
the motion in Congress was made that the "United colo- 
nies were, and of right ought to be, free and inde- 
pendent." 

The cause of the sailing of the Mayflower with her little 
band of Pilgrims for a new and strange world was the 
following: In 1562 England passed a law requiring all 
persons to attend the established worship, — the Episcopal, 
— under penalty of banishment, and if they returned, of 
death. As might be expected, there were many who 
could not conscientiously comply with this exaction, 
among them the sect called the Puritans, or Separatists. 
To enjoy their religion, John Robinson and his congre- 
gation, who lived in the north of England, determined to 
exile themselves to Holland. After many hardships and 
two detentions by the English government, this band of 
brave men, with their wives and families, at length arrived 
in Holland, and settled in Amsterdam. Here they were 
not satisfied, and removed to Leyden. They had to work 
hard, and their children were deprived of education, and 
hearing of the bright land of America and its vast wilder- 
ness, they concluded to seek it, where they could serve 
God and found a church unmolested. They prepared two 
small vessels, — the Mayflower and the Speedwell, — but 
these would hold only part of the company ready and 
anxious to go, so it was decided that the youngest and 
most active were to sail, and the older, among whom was 
the pastor, should remain. If they were successful, they 
were to send for those left behind ; if unsuccessful, to re- 
turn, though poor, to them. The little company needed 
money, and to provide this their agents formed a stock 
company, jointly with some business men of London; 
" they to furnish the capital, the emigrants to pledge their 
labor for seven years at ten pounds a man, and the profits 
of the enterprise — all houses, lands, gardens, and fields 
■ — to be divided at the end of that time among the stock- 
holders, according to their respective shares." They re- 



WHAT? 425 



turned to England to say a last adieu to their friends, and 
after remaining two weeks in Southampton, the party- 
started for sea. They were overtaken by a storm, which 
rendered the Speedwell unworthy for sea, and finally, to the 
number of one hundred — some historians say one hundred 
and thirty-two — they sailed from Plymouth, England, on 
the solitary Mayflower. Among the leaders of the party 
were Elder Brewster, the oldest of the little band, — 
fifty-six, — but sound in body and of a Christian spirit ; 
John Carver, near the same age, beloved by all, and 
worthy of being trusted ; William Bradford ; Edward 
Winslow ; and the captain of the Mayflower, rough but 
brave and resolute Miles Standish, with his meek and de- 
voted wife, Rose. Carver was chosen governor at once 
on their landing. On the 6th of September the Pilgrims 
took their last sad look at their native land, and, after a 
stormy and perilous passage, made land at Cape Cod on 
the 9th of November. When the Mayflower sailed again for 
England, on the following 5th of May, " not one so much 
as spoke of returning with it," though half their number 
had perished, and both the governor and his wife had been 
buried in the new land. They continued to thank God 
for their blessings, and worked with hearts and hands that 
acknowledged no fatigue or failure. 

174. Praxiteles. — What king offered to pay the debts 
of a city if the inhabitants would give him the Venus of 
Praxiteles? A?is. Attalus, King of Pergamus (see 17 in 
" Where ?"), offered the inhabitants of Cnidus to pay all 
their debts in exchange for this wonderful statue of Venus, 
but they would not listen to his proposal, so highly did 
they value it.* Attalus died 197 B.C. 

Praxiteles was a Greek sculptor, and flourished about 
the middle of the fourth century, somewhere near 364 
B.C. He ranks at the head of the later Attic school, but 
nothing is known of his personal history, except that he 
was a resident of Athens. He was unsurpassed in the 
exhibition of the softer beauties of the human form. In 
the Cnidian Venus, his most celebrated work, of Parian 
marble, the position of the left hand was the same as in 



" Greek Art," Wonder Library. 
36* 



426 WHAT? 



the Venus de Medicis ; the right hand held some drapery, 
which fell over a vase beside the statue, and was intended 
to indicate that she had just left the bath. Pliny says 
that Praxiteles made two statues of Venus, the one draped, 
the other nude, and that he thought them of equal value, 
and offered them for the same price ; that the people of 
Cos bought the draped one, and the people of Cnidus 
the other, and this latter totally eclipsed the fame of the 
draped statue. It was afterwards taken to Constanti- 
nople, where it perished by fire in the reign of Justinian. 
Praxiteles also made two marble statues of Eros. It is 
related that in his fondness for Phryne the courtesan, he 
promised to give her whichever of his works she chose, 
but would not tell her which of them he thought the 
best. To discover this, she sent a slave to tell him that a 
fire had broken out in his house and that his works would 
perish, whereupon he cried out that all his toil was lost if 
the fire had touched his Satyr or his Eros. Phryne chose 
the Eros, and dedicated it at Thespiae. The Satyr is said 
to have stood in the street of the tripods at Athens, and it 
is supposed that several existing marble statues, which 
represent a satyr leaning against the trunk of a tree, are 
copies of it. His works in marble are thought to have 
been covered with a thin encaustic varnish of flesh-color. 
None ever more happily succeeded in uniting softness 
with force, or elegance and refinement with simplicity, than 
Praxiteles.* The " Faun" and the Thespian "Cupid," 
which are preserved in the museum of the Capitol at 
Rome, and the " Apollo with the Lizard," are the works 
of his hands. (See 85 in " What?") 

175. Statues. — In what city were these said to be 
more numerous than the inhabitants? Ans. Pliny says it 
of Rome, in the days of her glory and splendor. Nero 
brought five hundred in bronze from the temple of Delphi 
alone, and from the soil of Rome there had already been 
exhumed — in the time of the Abbe Barthelemy — more 
than seventy thousand. 

176. Italian Schools of Painting. — What were 
they? Ans. Tuscan or Florentine, which is represented 



Anthon's Classical Dictionary. 



WHAT? 427 



by Fra Angelico, Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto ; 
the Roman School, embracing the names of Raphael and 
Michael Angelo ; the Lombard School, with Luini and 
Correggio ; the Venetian School, with Titian, Tintoretto, 
Paul Veronese, and Bassano ; Bolognese School, with 
Francia, Guido, and Albani ; the Neapolitan School, with 
Salvator Rosa and La Spagnoletto. 

177. Cannibals. — What great navigator was eaten by 
them? Ans. Captain James Cook. (See 118 in " Who?") 

178. George Eliot. — What female author was paid 
forty thousand pounds for a novel, and what was the 
novel? Ans. George Eliot, for "Daniel Deronda." 
Marian C. Evans, better known under the nom de plume of 
George Eliot, was born in Warwickshire about 1820. She 
married George Henry Lewes, an English author of con- 
siderable note, after a courtship of many years. Her 
first work, " Scenes of Clerical Life," originally appeared 
in "Blackwood's Magazine," in 1857, and was published 
in book form, in London, in 1858. It was followed two 
years afterwards by "Adam Bede," which at once secured 
for its author a place among the first of English novelists, 
and formed the beginning of a series of works each one 
of which has confirmed Mrs. Lewes in the high position 
which criticism has almost universally allotted to her. 
Among the highest characteristics of George Eliot as a 
writer of fiction is her remarkable power in the delinea- 
tion not so much of character already formed, as of its 
development. Her principal works are "The Mill on 
the Floss," "Romola," " Felix Holt the Radical," " Mid- 
dlemarch," one of the most remarkable of her prose 
works, and her latest, " Daniel Deronda," where she deals 
largely with the Jews and their religion. Herbert Spen- 
cer was Miss Evans's tutor. " George Eliot" netted 
forty thousand pounds, — nearly two hundred thousand 
dollars in our money — that is, received that for her copy- 
right, and still has a royalty of one pound for every copy 
of " Daniel Deronda" that is sold. This is the largest sum 
that has ever been paid for a copyright. She has trans- 
lated some, and also written poetry. Her poetical works 
are "The Spanish Gypsy" and "The Legend of Jubal." 
The home of Mrs. Lewes is near Regent's Park, in Lon- 



428 WHAT? 



don. " The house is a plain, square, two-story dwelling, 
covered with clustering vines and clambering roses, which 
give it an air of taste and beauty. On Sunday evenings 
she opens her house to her friends. These Sunday re- 
ceptions are, indeed, almost the only opportunities society 
has of enjoying her presence, since the labors and exer- 
tions consequent upon her long literary life have told 
severely upon her health, and she is unequal to the task 
of going very generally into the social world. Six hours 
of the day she is at her desk. But this time is spent upon 
the mere manual task of transcribing her thoughts upon 
paper, for so thoroughly does she think out her books, 
even to the structure of her sentences, before she begins 
to write them, that her manuscript displays scarcely an 
erasure or an alteration."* 

179. Marshal Ney. — What marshal had five horses 
killed under him at the battle of Waterloo ? Ans. Mar- 
shal Ney. (See 154 in "Who?") 

180. The Escurial. — What is it? Ans. It is a palace 
and mausoleum of the kings of Spain. 

The Escurial is in Escorial de Abajo, a town of two 
thousand inhabitants, in a barren region two thousand 
nine hundred and seventy feet above the sea, and twenty- 
five miles northwest of Madrid, with which it is connected 
by railway. This palace was built in fulfillment of a vow 
made by Philip II., that he would build the most magnifi- 
cent monastery in the world if St. Lawrence would give 
him victory over the French in the battle of St. Quentin, 
fought on that saint's day, August 10, 1557. St. Law- 
rence suffered martyrdom by being broiled on a gridiron, 
and by a quaint conceit of the king, or his architects, 
the ground-plan is in the form of a gridiron, with handle 
and bars complete. Voltaire and other French writers 
have claimed for a Frenchman named Louis Foi the 
honor of having been the architect of the Escurial ; but 
it is beyond doubt that Juan Bautista de Toledo com- 
menced it from his own plans, and on his death in 1567, 
it was continued by his pupil, Juan de Herrera. The foun- 
dation was commenced on St. George's day, April 23, 



* Harper's Weekly. 



WHAT? 429 



1563. Twenty-one years' labor and a sum equal to fifteen 
millions of dollars were expended in the work. The body 
of the gridiron is represented by seventeen ranges of 
buildings, crossing each other at right angles, forming a 
parallelogram inclosing twenty-four courts, with a square 
tower two hundred feet high flanking each of the four 
corners of the edifice, this representing a gridiron re- 
versed, the towers being the upturned feet. A wing four 
hundred and sixty feet long represents the handle of the 
implement, and contains the royal apartments. The aver- 
age height of the wall is sixty feet. The total length of 
the edifice is seven hundred and forty feet north and south, 
and five hundred and eighty feet east and west. It con- 
tains the royal palace, royal chapel, monastery with two 
hundred cells, two colleges, three chapter houses, three 
libraries, five great halls, six dormitories, three hospital 
halls, twenty-seven other halls, nine refectories, five in- 
firmaries, a countless number of apartments for attend- 
ants, eighty staircases, one thousand one hundred and ten 
windows looking outward, and one thousand five hundred 
and seventy-eight inward, or, including outhouses, four 
thousand in all, besides fourteen gates and eighty-six foun- 
tains. The entire edifice is of white stone spotted with 
gray, resembling granite, and quarried on the site. The 
general aspect of the Escurial is that of a freshly-erected 
pile, rising from the midst of plantations, and more im- 
posing from its magnitude than from grandeur of architec- 
ture. The Doric is the prevailing order. The most 
striking feature of the edifice is the church, built in 
general imitation of St. Peter's, at Rome, in the form of 
a Greek cross with a cupola, and two towers. It contains 
forty chapels with their altars, and is three hundred and 
sixty-four feet long, two hundred and thirty broad, di- 
vided into seven aisles, paved with black marble and 
roofed by the dome rising three hundred and thirty feet 
from the floor. The grand altar, ninety feet high and 
fifty wide, is of jasper and gilded bronze. Eighteen pillars, 
each eighteen feet high, of red and green jasper, support 
an estrade on which the altar is placed. Porphyry and 
marbles of the richest descriptions incrust the walls, and 
on either side are statue-portraits of the kings. Directly 



43° 



WHA T? 



under the high altar, so that the Host may be raised above 
the dead, is a mausoleum built by Philip IV., from a de- 
sign after the Roman Pantheon. This burial-place is 
thirty-six feet in diameter, with walls of jasper and black 
marble. Here the remains of all the sovereigns of Spain 
since Charles V. repose in niches one above another. 
Another burial-place in one of the chapels is called the 
Pantheon of the Infantas. Several fine paintings adorn 
the church, but it is much shorn of its embellishments since 
it was plundered by the French. Benvenuto Cellini's 
marble " Christ," presented to Philip by the Grand Duke 
of Tuscany, and brought by Barcelona on men's shoulders, 
is still shown here, and an immense collection of saintly 
relics amassed by the founder may also be seen. The in- 
terior of the church is a triumph of architectural effect., 
grand, massive, and solemn. On its steps are six colossal 
statues in granite, with marble heads and hands, and gilt 
crowns. These are called the kings of Judea. The edifice 
forms one side of a court, facing a finely sculptured 
portal which opened twice for every Spanish monarch, 
once when he was carried through it after his birth, and 
once after his death, when three nobles and three priests 
bore him to the tomb. The royal apartments contain 
little worthy of notice, excepting two picture-galleries, 
from which, however, most of the chefs cT xuvre have 
been removed to Madrid. The picture of "Joseph's 
Coat," painted by Velasquez, is still retained in the Es- 
curial, we think. The library was said before the French 
invasion to have contained thirty thousand printed, and 
four thousand three hundred manuscript, volumes, but we 
have no accurate estimate of its present contents. It is 
believed to contain between four thousand and five thou- 
sand manuscripts, of which five hundred and sixty-seven 
are Greek, sixty-seven Hebrew, and one thousand eight 
hundred Arabic. The Arabic manuscripts are not accessi- 
ble to visitors. A portion of the library was destroyed 
by fire in 1671, and again in 1761, and the third time in 
1872. 

181. Zeuxis. — What artist gave his pictures away be- 
cause there was no money value that he could place upon 
them ? Ans. Zeuxis. 



WHAT? 



431 



Zeuxis was born at Heraclea, in Magna Grsecia, and 
flourished about 400 B.C. He is one of the celebrated 
painters of antiquity. He rapidly rose to the highest 
distinction in Greece, and acquired by the exercise of his 
art not only renown but riches. Throughout his life he 
seems to have been vainer of his wealth than of his genius. 
He appeared at the Olympic games attired in a mantle 
on which his name was embroidered in letters of gold. 
When he had attained the height of his fame, he refused 
any longer to receive money for his pictures, but made 
presents of them, because he regarded them as above all 
pecuniary value. The ruling passion of Zeuxis was love 
of pomp, an ever-restless vanity, a constant desire and 
craving after every kind of distinction. He was the great 
friend of Archelaus, King of Macedon. For the palace 
of this monarch he executed many pictures. He was re- 
garded as particularly excellent in the delineation of 
women, and his portrait of " Helen" is his most renowned 
production. Invited to come to Crotona to paint a num- 
ber of pictures for the adornment of the temple of Juno, 
he informed the inhabitants he would paint but one, and 
that would be the picture of " Helen." He asked the city 
to send him the most beautiful and fairest of their maidens, 
and he selected five from their number, copying all that 
was loveliest and most perfect in the form of each, and 
thus completed his " Helen." He gave his "Alcmena," 
representing " Hercules strangling the serpents in his 
cradle in the sight of his parents," to the Agrigentines, 
and a figure of the god "Pan" to his patron Archelaus 
of Macedon. He left many draughts in a single color on 
white. There is a story of a contest between himself and 
Parrhasius, — a native of Ephesus, but who eventually went 
to Athens. It is said the former painted a cluster of 
grapes with such perfect skill that the birds came and 
pecked at them. Elated with so unequivocal a testimony 
of his excellence, he called to his rival to draw back the 
curtain which he supposed concealed his work, antici- 
pating a certain triumph. Now, however, he found him- 
self entrapped, for what he took for a curtain was only a 
painting of one by Parrhasius. Upon this, with great 
frankness and good humor, he confessed himself defeated, 



43 2 



WHAT? 



since he had only deceived birds, but his antagonist had 
deceived an experienced artist. He is said to have taken 
a long time to finish his productions, justifying his slow- 
ness, when reproached for it, by remarking that he was 
painting for eternity. It is related that he died with 
laughter at the picture of an old woman which he himself 
had painted.* We do not find much in regard to Par- 
rhasius, except that " he raised the art of painting to per- 
fection in all that is exalted and essential." One of his 
most celebrated works was his allegorical figure of the 
" Athenian people, or Demos." The time when he flour- 
ished appears to have been about the 96th Olympiad. 
(See 186 in "What?") 

182. Royal Palaces in England. — What are they? 
Ans. At the present time Queen Victoria has seven 
palaces, which she uses at different seasons of the year 
and on different occasions. Her London palaces are 
Buckingham Palace, which she only visits on great occa- 
sions ; St. James's Palace, where receptions are held; 
and Kensington Palace, where the good queen was born, 
and where she held her first cabinet council. Her out- 
of-town residences are at Windsor, at Osborne, in the 
Isle of Wight, and at Balmoral, in the Scottish High- 
lands. 

183. Roman Vestal. — What Roman vestal was 
buried alive because she bore children when marriage was 
prohibited her? Ans. Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romu- 
lus. (See 81 in "Who?") 

184. What great dramatic poet was a bricklayer, and 
assisted in building Lincoln's Inn in London? Ans. 
Benjamin Jonson. (See 18-1 in "Who?") 

185. Zenobia. — What queen was led in chains of gold 
a captive to Rome by the Emperor Aurelian ? Ans. Ze- 
nobia, the beautiful and, at one time, powerful queen of 
Palmyra. (See 117 in "Who?") She was so covered 
with jewels that it was with difficulty she could walk. 

186. Olympic Games. — What were they? Ans. 
The Olympic games were the chief of the four great 
games of the Greeks. They were instituted by Her- 



* Anthon's Classical Dictionary. 



WHAT? 433 



cules in honor of Jupiter, 1222 B.C., and renewed after 
a long time, first by Lycurgus, 884 B.C., and next by 
Coroebus, 776 B.C. The Greeks began to reckon time in 
Olympian periods from this last date — 776 B.C. These 
games were celebrated at Olympia, a sacred spot on the 
banks of the Alpheus, near Elis, every fifth year. The 
exact interval at which they occurred was one of forty- 
nine or fifty lunar months alternately, so the celebrations 
sometimes fell in July and again in August. The period 
between two celebrations was called an Olympiad. These 
festivals lasted five days, and drew people together from 
all parts of Greece, and many strangers from foreign 
countries came to witness the imposing ceremonies. 
Women were forbidden to appear at Olympia, or even 
to cross the Alpheus, during the festival, under penalty of 
death. However, an exception was made in this severe 
law of exclusion in favor of the pretty priestess of Ceres 
and certain other virgins, who were allowed to be present 
at the games, and had. seats assigned them opposite the 
judges. This was to keep the judges in good humor and 
the maidens docile. The Olympic festivals consisted of 
religious ceremonies, athletic contests, and races. The 
games consisted of horse- and foot-races, leaping, throw- 
ing the quoit, wrestling, boxing, and a combination of 
those exercises. The earliest of these games was the foot- 
race. The space run was the length of about six hundred 
English feet. This was increased afterwards. The prizes 
were wreaths of olive, with which the victor was crowned. 
Highest honors and respect were shown the conquerors ; 
their praises were celebrated throughout the land. Those 
who were to take part in the contests had their names en- 
tered on the list beforehand, and then attended a training- 
school for the purpose. Before being allowed to engage 
in the games they had to take an oath that they had re- 
ceived such training, and had served with all their dili- 
gence to make themselves worthy of winning a prize. 
They were trained only in one thing, — in racing, boxing, 
or fencing, — according as they wished to engage. 

187. Hans Holbein. — What artist was court painter 
to Henry VIII. ? Ans. Hans Holbein. 

Hans Holbein, the Younger, was a German, born in 
t 37 



434 



WHAT? 



Griinstadt, in 1497. He was the son of a painter, and be- 
longed to a family of painters. Hans soon left Griinstadt, 
and took up his residence in Basle, where he was on terms 
of intimacy with the great scholar Erasmus. Sometimes 
in his early days he practiced painting on glass, after the 
example of his kinsman. While in Basle he painted 
what is considered his finest work, the " Meier Madonna," 
now at Darmstadt, a copy of which is in the Dresden 
Gallery, and there, too, he executed the designs for his 
series of wood-cuts, the " Dance of Death." He married 
at Basle a widow, who was older than himself, — Eliza- 
beth Schmid. She had one son, and quite a property. 
Although a German by birth and education, Holbein 
passed the greater part of his life in England, leaving be- 
hind him his wife. It was between the years 1526 and 
1527 that Hans came to England, when he was thirty- 
two years old. He went at once to Chelsea, to the house 
of Sir Thomas More, with a letter of introduction from 
Erasmus, and, what was better yet, a portrait of the great 
scholar, painted by Holbein, as a present to Sir Thomas. 
Hans was introduced to Henry VIII. by Sir Thomas 
More, and at once taken into favor and placed in the 
king's service. He was given rooms in the palace, with a 
general salary of thirty pounds a year, and separate pay- 
ment for his paintings. When a courtier complained to 
the king that the painter had taken precedence of him, a 
nobleman, the king replied, " I have many noblemen, but 
I have but one Hans Holbein." While at court the artist 
received nothing but favors and kindnesses from bluff 
King Hal, between whom and Holbein there seemed to 
be a common cord of affinity. It is true that at one 
time the painter came near forfeiting his master's good 
opinion, by a too favorable miniature which the painter 
was accused of taking of Anne of Cleves. Holbein 
painted most of the members of the royal family, besides 
nobles, knights, and English gentlemen and ladies. Des- 
tiny had made him a portrait-painter, but that he was 
equal to other branches of art his '-Meier Madonna," 
and the designs preserved of his famous allegory of the 
"Triumphs of Riches and Poverty," show. This last 
was painted for the hall of the Easterling Steelyard, the 



WHAT? 435 



headquarters of the German merchants, then traders in 
England. He also designed clasps, cups, and dagger- 
hilts. Holbein died of the plague when only forty-eight 
years old, four years before the death of his patron, 
Henry VIII. He had visited Basle several times, and 
on one of these visits painted a portrait of his wife and 
children, which he brought back to England with him. 
This is anything but flattering to her style of beauty, as 
she is represented "cross-looking and red-eyed." He is 
said to have been a better draughtsman in the maturity of 
his powers and a far better colorist than his countryman 
Albrecht Diirer, though in deep and reverential feeling he 
was behind him. His larger portraits he painted on a 
peculiar green, and his miniatures on a blue background. 
He drew his portrait-sketches with black and red chalk on 
a paper tinted flesh-color. It is said that three pictures 
out of every four ascribed to him are the works of other 
artists. During Holbein's residence in or visits to More's 
house at Chelsea, he painted or sketched the original of 
the More family picture. This is still in the possession 
of a descendant of the Mores and Ropers. The best of 
his drawings are his portrait-sketches with chalk on flesh- 
tinted paper. These have a peculiar history. After be- 
ing in the possession of the great art collector, the Earl 
of Arundel, and carried to France, they were lost sight 
of altogether for the space of a century, until they were 
discovered by Queen Caroline, wife of George II., in a 
bureau at Kensington. The collection is now in the 
queen's library, Windsor, with photographs at the Ken- 
sington Museum. There are one or two of Holbein's re- 
puted portraits at Hampton Court. In the Louvre is a 
portrait of Anne of Cleves by Holbein, where she appears 
"as a kindly and comely woman, in spite of her broad 
nose and swarthy complexion." Two other portraits of 
his are the " Cornish Gentleman," with reddish hair and 
beard, and "The Two Ambassadors," believed to be Sir 
Thomas Wyatt and his secretary. Miss Tytler says she 
saw the former, " and it looked as though the figure 
would step from the frame, and it was hard to believe that 
more than three hundred years had passed since the orig- 
inal walked the earth." 



436 



WHAT. 



188. Prince of Painters. — What painter was so ar- 
rogant as to call himself thus? Ans. Apollodorus. 

Apollodorus was a celebrated painter of Athens, who 
brought the art to a high degree of perfection, and handed 
it in this state to his pupil Zeuxis. (See 181 in " What?") 
Two of Apollodorus's most famous productions are noticed 
by Pliny : a priest at the altar, and Ajax struck by a thun- 
derbolt. These two chefs d'ceuvre were still in existence 
in Pliny's time at Pergamus, and were highly admired. 
He first discovered the art of softening and degrading, as 
it is technically called, the colors of a painting, and of 
imitating the exact effect of shades. Pliny speaks of him 
with enthusiasm. He became at last so arrogant as to style 
himself the " prince of painters," and never to go in pub- 
lic without wearing a kind of tiara, after the fashion of the 
Medes. His fame was, however, eventually eclipsed by 
his pupil Zeuxis, who perfected all his discoveries. There 
was another Apollodorus, a native of Damascus, who was 
an architect of great ability during the reign of the Roman 
emperors Trajan and Hadrian. These two are often con- 
founded. The latter was employed by Trajan in con- 
structing the famous stone bridge over the Ister or Danube, 
104 a.d. Various other bold and magnificent works, 
both at Rome and in the provinces, contributed to his 
high reputation. The principal of these was the Forum 
of Trajan, in the centre of which arose the superb Column 
of Trajan, a magnificent relic of Roman greatness. In- 
cluding base and capital the column is ninety-two feet high, 
the substructure on which it rests is seventeen feet high, 
and the round support for the statue which crowns the 
top of the column is thirteen feet high, so that the height 
of the whole monument, with the statue, is one hundred 
and forty-five feet. Originally there was a bronze statue 
of the Emperor Trajan upon the summit, but Sextus V. 
had the emperor's statue removed and one of the Apostle 
Peter, twenty-three feet in height, put in its stead, and 
then consecrated the column to that saint. In the inte- 
rior of the monument there are one hundred and eighty- 
five steps ; the staircase is illuminated by holes cut in the 
circumference, expanding inwards. ' The lower diameter 
of the column is a little more than eleven feet, and the 



WHAT? 437 



upper, ten feet. It is constructed of huge blocks of white 
marble, which were originally united by brass clamps. 
In the Middle Ages these superb bronze clamps were torn 
from the column, and it is a wonder that it was not en- 
tirely destroyed. Every block fills out the full circle of 
the column, and the steps are wrought into them, which 
form the winding staircase. The square foundation is 
composed of similar masses, with the door on the south 
side, from which the steps conveniently wind. Upon the 
flat surface of the capital is a spacious walk around the 
base that supports the' statue. The sides of the founda- 
tion are garnished with a beautiful top cornice and base 
moulding raised flat, adorned with weapons of war. The 
torus or bolster of the Doric base forms a laurel-wreath. 
Around the shaft of the column the sculptures ascend to 
the summit, and represent the wars of Trajan with the 
Dacians. This sculptured work is done in relief, and the 
figures are energetic, the heads characteristic, the positions 
good, and by ingenious motivos the monotony of military 
arrangement is avoided. In proportion to the height and 
its distance from the spectator, the upper figures are in- 
creased in size according to optical laws. Notwithstand- 
ing this, from the good arrangement of its reduction the 
effect of the shaft is very pleasing. The Emperor Trajan 
is buried beneath the column, his ashes being preserved 
in a golden casket.* (See 201 in "What?") 

189. Epic Poem. — What is it? Ans. It is a poem 
containing a narration of the achievements of some his- 
torical or fabulous personage, either in real life or fiction. 
It is the same as a heroic poem. Tasso's "Jerusalem 
Delivered," Milton's "Paradise Lost," and Homer's 
"Iliad" are the greatest epic poems that the world has 
ever produced. 

190. Netherlands. — What are thus known ? Ans. 
Holland and Belgium. In 1814 the seven United Prov- 
inces (or Holland) and Belgium were constituted one king- 
dom, under William, the Prince of Orange, with the title 
of the King of the Netherlands. In 1840 King William 
I. published a proclamation announcing his voluntary 



* Iconographic Encyclopaedia. 
37* 



438 WHAT? 



abdication of the throne, and was succeeded by his son, 
William II. He is said to have retired with a private 
fortune of one hundred and sixty-eight millions of francs, 
and he abdicated in consequence of his determination to 
marry the Countess D'Oultrement, a lady of the Roman 
Catholic faith. 

igi. Great Portrait-Painters of the World. — 
What artists are thus celebrated ? Ans. William Ho- 
garth, Peter Paul Rubens, Sir Anthony Van Dyke, 
Thomas Gainsborough, Benjamin West, Sir Joshua Rey- 
nolds, Diego Velasquez, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Hans 
Holbein, Ary Scheffer, and Rembrandt. 

i. William Hogarth was born in London in 1697, 
where his father came to establish himself as a printer's 
reader. He had been a schoolmaster in Westmoreland. 
Hogarth began life as an apprentice to a silversmith, and 
learned to engrave on metal. When he was twenty-one 
years old he renounced silver-engraving for copper-en- 
graving, and began to work for the booksellers. His first- 
known illustrations of a book were twelve small plates for 
" Hudibras," done in his twenty-ninth year. Hogarth 
had studied in Sir James Thornhill's academy. Finding 
he made very little by his copper-engraving, he became a 
portrait-painter, and made rapid progress in the art. In 
1730 he eloped with and married Jane, the daughter of 
Sir James Thornhill, who opposed the match on the ground 
of the inferior birth of his proposed son-in-law. The 
time came, however, when Sir James was very proud of 
Hogarth, and as he was an affectionate husband, the 
elopement proved not so bad as one expected. It was 
not many years before Hogarth was at the head of his 
profession, and in the ten years between his thirty-eighth 
and forty-eighth years he produced his different series of 
moral and satirical pictures. Though a successful painter, 
Hogarth had the mortification to see that his contempo- 
raries could only partially appreciate his great genius. 
His series of six scenes, known as " Marriage a la Mode," 
were sold at auction in 1750, when he was in the height 
of his power, but only one bidder appeared, and these 
matchless sketches were knocked down to him at a hun- 
dred and ten guineas, while the frames alone had cost the 



WHAT? 



439 



painter twenty-four guineas. Hogarth was not only an 
artist, but an author, and in his fifty-sixth year gave to 
the world his book on "The Analysis of Beauty." In 
his sixtieth year he was made sergeant-painter to George 
III., and in 1764, in his sixty-eighth year, he died at his 
house in Leicester Square, but was buried in the memora- 
ble church-yard of Chiswick, near his summer villa. His 
wife long survived him, and was remembered as a lively, 
rather irascible old lady, particularly when the superiority 
of her William Hogarth was impugned. They had no 
children, and she could not have been left in very flourish- 
ing circumstances, as the Academy gave her a pension of 
forty pounds a year. " He was honest and frank, blunt 
yet benevolent," and devoted to his dog Trump, whom 
he had painted with him in his portrait. As a moralist 
and satirist of work-a-day humanity, among painters he 
has never been surpassed, or even equaled. His power 
of observation was wonderful, and his faculty of putting 
on canvas what he observed was equal to his power. 
His satire is more direct than subtle, and perhaps for that 
very reason he comes down as with a blow of a sledge- 
hammer on vice and folly. He never flinched or faltered, 
or screened guilt in high places, and was even careless of 
giving offense or forfeiting favor. Hogarth's pictures 
must be seen to be appreciated, and though many of them 
are coarse and revolting, we must remember that they 
were painted for a purpose, and exposed the revolting side 
of vice and pleasure as nothing else could. His series of 
the "Idle and Industrious Apprentice," "The Distressed 
Poet," and the "Enraged Musician" give lively and 
striking examples of his wonderful genius. The National 
Gallery possesses his "Marriage a la Mode" and his por- 
trait of himself. 

2. Rubens. (See 47-2 in "What?") 

3. Sir Anthony Van Dyke was born in Antwerp, 
that city so famous for its race of painters, in 1599. His 
father was a merchant, and his mother was celebrated for 
painting flowers "in small" and for needle-work in silk. 
When only ten years of age Van Dyke began to study as 
a painter, and it was not long before he was placed under 
the care of Rubens, with whom he soon grew a favorite 



44o WHAT? 



pupil. In 1618, when only a youth of seventeen, he was 
admitted as a master in the painters' guild of St. Luke. 
Rubens, seeing his tameness of invention, counseled him 
to abide by portrait-painting, and to visit Italy. In his 
twentieth year he went to London, already a resort of 
Flemish painters, and lodging with a countryman of his 
own, worked for a short time in the service of James I. 
On the death of his father, Van Dyke returned to Flan- 
ders, and was able to take Rubens' s advice, and go to 
Rome. Before leaving Antwerp he presented to his mas- 
ter, Rubens, several of his pictures, among them his 
famous portrait of" Rubens's Wife." He passed five years 
in Italy, visiting Venice, Florence, Rome, and Palermo, 
but spending the most of his time at Genoa. In Italy 
he began to indulge in his love of splendid extravagance 
and in the fastidious fickleness which belonged to the evil 
side of his character. At Rome he w r as called the " cav- 
alier painter" \ yet his first complaint when he returned 
to Antwerp was that he could not live on the profits of 
his painting. (See 89 in "What?") In Palermo Van 
Dyke knew, and some say painted the portrait of, Sofo- 
nisba Anguisciola, who claimed to be the most eminent 
portrait-painter among women. He said he owed more 
to her conversation than to all the teaching of the schools. 
She was then about ninety years old, and blind, but still 
delighted to have her house a sort of academy of paint- 
ing, to which all the artists visiting Palermo resorted. 
The plague drove him from Italy into Flanders, but he 
did not remain there long, as the great fame of Rubens 
overshadowed that of all other artists. While in Flan- 
ders he painted his " Crucifixion," which he presented 
to the Dominicans as a memorial gift in honor of his 
father. In 1630 he went a second time to England, but 
his vanity was so wounded by not receiving, as he thought, 
due consideration from the king, that with his old rest- 
lessness, which never allowed him to remain long in one 
place, he returned to the Low Countries. A year later he 
received a formal invitation from Charles I. to come to 
his court and be named painter to the king. Nothing 
loath, again he departed for England, where he was given 
a right kingly reception, lodged with Charles's artists at 



WHAT? 441 



Blackfriars, granted a pension of two hundred pounds a 
year, with the privilege of painting his sovereign and 
queen as often as he chose. In another year, 1633, he 
was knighted. Royal and noble commissions flowed upon 
him, and the king visited him continually, as though he 
were no king and Van Dyke no painter, only two common 
men, who could talk when they pleased or keep quiet 
when they pleased, without having all the world stop to 
listen. He painted the king and royal family in every 
conceivable position and attitude, standing, sitting, lean- 
ing, kneeling; with one hand up, another down, with 
both up, then both down ; with hats on the head and 
hats off the head ; with coats and without, until it was a 
wonder there were any more paints or brushes, palettes or 
canvas, in England. After the death of the king, Van 
Dyke had several great patrons. For the Earl of Arun- 
del he painted or designed a second Arundel family 
picture, besides painting portraits of the earl and countess. 
He painted a number of pictures for the Northumberland 
family, the Earls Henry and Algernon, and of their two 
beautiful sisters, Ladies Dorothy and Lucy Percy, who 
afterwards became Countesses of Leicester and of Carlisle. 
William and Philip, Earls of Pembroke, were also among 
his patrons, and for the second he painted his great family 
picture, "The Wilton Family." He had forty pounds 
for a half- and sixty for a full-length picture. For a large 
piece of the king, queen, and their children, he had a 
hundred pounds. For the Wilton family picture he had 
five hundred and twenty-five pounds. Indeed, he painted 
so thoroughly the nobles of his day, that to possess a Van 
Dyke was almost of itself a patent of nobility. This 
fastidious artist would not condescend to paint a portrait 
save for people of rank and birth. He is said to have 
always gone " magnificently dressed, and had a numerous 
and gallant equipage, and kept so good a table in his 
apartment that few princes were more visited and better 
served." In his thirty-ninth year he married Mary Ruth- 
ven, with whose hand the king presented him. She was 
nearly allied to the unhappy Earl of Gowrie. She con- 
sidered that she had been degraded by the union, and 
never forgave the degradation. She did not prove a 



442 WHAT? 



loving wife or he a devoted and loyal husband. They 
spent lavishly, and although Van Dyke painted indus- 
triously, his love of pleasure was such that he became 
deeply involved. He died about a year after his mar- 
riage, a little over forty years old, at Blackfriars, in 1641. 
He was buried in old St. Paul's, near the tomb of John 
of Gaunt. He left a daughter, who was born eight days 
before he died, and was baptized on the same day. She 
grew up, and married a Mr. Stephney, "who rode in King 
Charles's life-guards." His beautiful widow re-married ; 
her second husband was a Welsh knight. Van Dyke was 
a proud man, dissatisfied both with himself and his call- 
ing, resenting that he should be condemned to portrait- 
painting ; yet he by no means undervalued or slurred over 
his work. There is a picture of him in the Louvre which 
is considered his best likeness. He is said to have had 
the art of conferring on his sitters a reflection of his own 
outward stateliness and grace, yet in power and genius he 
was decidedly inferior to his great master, Rubens. Van 
Dyke owed something of the charm of his pictures to the 
dress of the period. In the men the hair often flowed to 
the shoulders, or was gathered in a love-knot, while the 
whiskers and beard formed a point. In the women the 
hair fell in soft curls about the face, and the neck was en- 
circled by the broad falling collar, with deep scollops of 
point-lace. Vests or cloaks were of the richest velvet or 
satin ; the men's hats were broad and flapping, usually 
turned up on one side, and having an ostrich-feather in 
the band. The women wore hoods and mantles, short 
bodices, ample trains, and wide sleeves, terminating in 
loose ruffles at the elbow, which left half the arm bare. 
Van Dyke and Rubens both used black draperies, and the 
former was particularly fond of painting white or blue 
satin. He is said to have used a brown preparation of 
pounded peach-stones for glazing the hair in his pictures. 
Van Dyke had few pupils, wanting the patience requisite 
to make a good teacher. 

4. Thomas Gainsborough. (See 67-3 in "What?") 

5. Benjamin West. (See 149 in " Who?") 

6. Sir Joshua Reynolds was born in 1723, at 
Plympton, in Devonshire, his father having been master 



WHAT? 443 



of the Plympton Grammar-School. The reading of the 
" Treatise on Painting," by the portrait-painter Jona- 
than Richardson, is said to have first given Sir Joshua 
the eager wish to be a painter. At the age of nineteen 
Reynolds went to London, and began his studies with 
Hudson, the son-in-law of Richardson; but quarreling 
with Hudson, he returned to Devonshire, and began to 
practice portrait-painting as a profession at Plymouth 
Dock; here he remained till 1746, when his father died, 
and he concluded to again return to London. In his 
twenty-eighth year Commodore Keppel, a Devonshire 
man, and a patron to the young artist, carried him off in 
his ship " Centurion" to the Mediterranean, landing him 
at Minorca. From the Balearic Islands Reynolds made 
his way to Leghorn, thence to Rome, and finally to the 
cities to the north of Italy, and to Paris, coming back to 
London after a profitable tour of fully three years' duration. 
During this tour Sir Joshua caught a severe cold, which 
left him very deaf, and ever after he was obliged to use 
an ear-trumpet. He also had a fall during this absence 
which gave him a cut in his under-lip, the scar of which 
made the indentation to be seen in his portraits. His last 
residence in London was in Leicester Square, or Leices- 
ter Fields, as it was then called, which was so long as- 
sociated with his name. His house was kept by his 
homely, kindly sister, Frances, who, like another Mary 
Lamb, did all in her power to make things go smoothly 
for her talented brother. She made, too, like the latter, 
some pretensions to her brother's calling, and passed her 
time in painting miniatures and in writing a theory of 
beauty and taste. The house of Sir Joshua, which was 
further made attractive by two young nieces, — one of whom 
was his heiress after the death of his sister, and the other 
known from the portrait painted of her as " Offie" Palmer, 
her name being Theophila, — became the chosen resort of 
all the wit and wisdom, with much of the rank and fashion, 
of London. These matchless evenings were enlivened by 
the simplest entertainment ; but what need was there of 
rich and choice viands, when the guests were feasted on 
the rarest and most delicate bits coming fresh from such 
men as Dr. Samuel Johnson, Garrick, Goldsmith, Burke, 



444 



WHAT? 



and Dr. Barney, who was often accompanied by his 
bright young daughter, Fanny, the friend and companion 
of Mrs. Thrale ? Every time Reynolds moved to a new 
quarter in London marked a new era in the brilliant and 
busy painter's progress, and an increase in his prices from 
ten to thirty-five guineas for a head, and from forty to a 
hundred guineas for a full-length portrait. He received 
much opposition on his introducing what were considered 
his " new-fangled notions, gathered abroad, of soft, bril- 
liant coloring, grafted on the native intelligence and sense 
of grace of a very able and highly-cultivated man." His 
brother-artists were not slow in telling him that he painted 
worse than before he went to Italy. Notwithstanding 
these severe criticisms, his portrait of his benefactor, 
Commodore Keppel, soon won general recognition. He 
was in the habit of conversing with his sitters, and so 
charming were his animated remarks that they had the 
effect of causing them to forget their circumstances. Sir 
Joshua had a pretty villa at Richmond, to which he often 
repaired for a holiday on a summer's afternoon, but where 
he never passed a night. So unremitting was his devotion 
to his art, that in an interval of many years he boasted 
that he had never " lost a day or missed a line." " In 
his integrity and diligence, his genius and accomplish- 
ments, and his great worldly success, Sir Joshua was 
gracious to more than his friends and sitters, while natur- 
ally he did not like contradictions from his brethren of 
the painting-rooms." For the most part he was honored 
and esteemed by his fellow-artists, and by their unanimous 
consent was elected the first president at the founding of 
the Royal Academy in 1768. He was so generous that he 
could ardently admire in others those qualities that he was 
conscious of lacking himself. He said that the last word 
he wished to utter from his academic chair was that of 
the glorious Italian painter, Michael Angelo. He frankly 
confessed that, to his great mortification, Italian art had 
at first disappointed him. Admiration grew as his per- 
ceptions increased. King George III. presented Rey- 
nolds with the distinction of knighthood. It was on the 
occasion of his installation to the office of president to 
the Academy, to which the king had consented to give his 



WHAT? 445 



royal patronage. Sir Joshua never married. It is said 
that he offered himself to the bright and interesting Ger- 
man artist Angelica Kauffmann, but she, for some strange 
reason best known to herself, refused him. When over 
sixty years of age, a partial loss of sight compelled Rey- 
nolds to renounce his loved art, and he obeyed the com- 
pulsion with the simple dignity and resignation that was 
part of his character. He died in his seventieth year, in 
1792. His body lay in state at the Royal Academy, and 
his coffin was borne by dukes, marquises, and earls. He 
was buried beside Sir Christopher Wren, in the crypt of 
St. Paul's. He was small in stature, — under the middle 
height, — plump, and gentleman-like in his demeanor. His 
face was round, almost chubby, while keen, bright, and 
kindly. He left an estate of over eighty thousand pounds, 
the bulk of which his sister inherited, and after her his 
niece. He contributed "Fifteen Discourses" on the 
literature of art before the Academy. It is as a portrait- 
painter that he takes the highest rank, though his im- 
aginative pictures are considerable in number. Among 
these last are " Count Ugolino and his Sons," " Hercu- 
les Strangling the Serpents," "Mrs. Sarah Siddons as 
the Tragic Muse," and " Garrick between Tragedy and 
Comedy." All of these he received enormous prices for : 
four hundred and fifteen hundred guineas for the two first, 
and five and seven hundred guineas for the two last. His 
faults are said to be his ignorance of nature, and the 
slovenliness and haste with which many of his pictures 
are finished. Even his "Strawberry Girl" is no brown 
little rustic, but a dainty little lady, fresh from the parlor. 
As a whole, he has come down to us excelled by none, 
hardly approached by any, among his countrymen as a 
portrait-painter. He could confer more beauty on the 
portrait of a beautiful woman than could Van Dyke, and 
he had the rare gift of being able to throw the souls of 
his sitters into their faces, and giving them the benefit of 
the highest intelligence and the finest feelings of which 
they were capable. He did not paint for coming gener- 
ations, but for the immediate present, and many of his 
pictures, which were brilliant in coloring when painted, 
are but "grim ghosts" now of their former splendor. 

38 



446 WHATi 



He, with Rubens, had a peculiar faculty of painting 
childish faces. Among his most famous portraits of 
women are those of the beautiful Duchess of Hamilton 
and Lady Coventry (the Gunnings), the Ladies Walde- 
grave, and one of Mrs. Thrale, the distinguished little 
mistress of the brewer's home in Streatham, where Sir 
Joshua was a welcome guest. His delight was to paint 
brownish-green or peach-tinted brocades, and his "Blen- 
heim Family" portrait ranks as the fourth in the great 
English family pictures. 

7. Diego Velasquez, or, as his entire name ran, Diego 
Rodriguez de Silva y Velasquez, was born in Seville in 
1599. He took, according to an Andalusian fashion, his 
mother's name of Velasquez in place of that of his father's, 
who was of the Portuguese house De Silva. His father 
was a lawyer in Seville. The painter was well educated, 
though he is said to have turned his copy-books and 
grammars into drawing-cards, and filled them with crea- 
tions from his young brain. He studied in two different 
Spanish studios, and married the daughter of his second 
master, who was already deeply attached to Velasquez on 
account of his talents and assiduousness. As Sir Joshua 
Reynolds had opened a new era in art in England, so did 
Velasquez do something to humanize and widen the nar- 
row path of art in Spain. From the first he struck out 
into what was then a new line in Spanish art, and gave 
himself up to the study of materialistic bodies, to which 
the Flemish and Dutch painters were prone, painting 
"still life" in every form, taking his living subjects from 
the streets and by-ways, and even keeping a peasant lad as 
an apprentice, who would cry and laugh by turns, as the 
artist had need for him, till Velasquez had grappled with 
every variety of action, posture, and expression. The 
result of these studies was his famous picture of the 
"Aguador," or water-carrier of Seville. This picture 
was carried off by Joseph Bonaparte in his flight from 
Spain, taken in his carriage at Vittoria, and finally pre- 
sented by Ferdinand VII. of Spain to the Duke of Wel- 
lington, as a grateful offering, in whose gallery at Apsley 
House the picture remains. While at work at this picture 
day after day, the artist was annoyed to perceive a shadow 



WHAT? 447 



cast, as it were, from some of the drapery. This he would 
remove at different times, but the next day it made its 
appearance as before. One evening, while a friend stood 
watching the picture with great admiration, Velasquez ex- 
claimed, "That shadow again !" and was about to dash 
his brush across the canvas. With his entire force the 
friend held him back, and the next morning the young 
artist was delighted to find that the shadow had only been 
in his own tired eyes. In 1623 he visited Madrid, and 
was chosen by Philip IV. to be court painter, with a 
monthly salary of twenty ducats. He painted the royal 
family many times, and with his first portrait of Philip in 
armor the king was so pleased that he had the picture 
publicly exhibited, and talked of collecting and canceling 
his existing portraits, and declared that no one else in fu- 
ture should paint his majesty. Velasquez was paid three 
hundred ducats for the picture. Five years later Rubens 
came to Madrid, and these great artists were friends at 
once. Rubens strongly advised his friend to go to Italy. 
As this agreed with the cherished wish of the other, the 
king granted him leave, the continuance of his salary, and 
a special sum for his journey. He went first to Venice, 
then to Rome, when the Pope graciously offered him a 
suite of apartments in the Vatican, which Velasquez de- 
clined, asking only free access to the papal galreries. 
There he copied many portions of Michael Angelo's 
" Last Judgment," and portions of the frescoes of Ra- 
phael. At Rome he met the rival artists of the world, 
Guido Reni, Nicholas Poussin, and Claude Lorrain. Ve- 
lasquez passed some time in Naples, and was influenced 
by the style of the Neapolitan artists more than by any 
others. In 1639 he painted his principal religious piece, 
"The Crucifixion," for the nunnery of San Placido, in 
Madrid. In this picture his "power successfully triumphs 
over his halting imagination." Philip IV. was very fond 
of dwarfs, and collected the various specimens as another 
would rarities of a different character. These the court 
painter often drew, and the Queen of Spain's gallery is in 
consequence full of these ugly little monsters executed by 
Velasquez. The Louvre — the art gallery of Paris — has a 
large picture of two of these little people leading by a 



448 WHAT? 



cord a great spotted hound, by Velasquez. He was sent, 
in 1648, by Philip to collect works of art for the royal 
galleries and the academy about to be founded. He went 
to Genoa, Milan, Venice (buying here principally the 
works of Tintoretto), and. Rome. While in the latter city 
he painted his portrait of "Pope Innocent X.," whom 
we read was the "ugliest of any of the Popes." None of 
them are a very handsome race, and if this one exceeded 
his progenitors in "plainness of countenance," he is 
deeply to be commiserated. On his return the painter 
was loaded with favors by his royal patron, being given 
the quartermaster-generalship of the king's household, 
with a salary of three thousand ducats a year, and the right 
of carrying at his girdle a key which opened every lock in 
the palace. Velasquez was knighted by Philip IV. He 
died in his sixty-first year, in 1660, with tertian fever. His 
wife Dona Juana died eight days later, and was buried in 
the same grave with her husband. They left one child, 
who married a painter. A painting by him in Vienna 
of his family, shows that he had at one time four sons and 
two daughters ; this is one of his most important works 
out of the Peninsula. The faces of the family sparkle on 
the sober background like gems. As a piece of easy, 
actual life, this group has never been excelled. There 
are sixty-four of Velasquez's incomparable paintings in 
the Palace of the Prado, in Madrid. (See 98 in "What?") 
He is represented as a man of honor and amiability, and 
filled a difficult office with credit at the most jealous court 
in Europe. He was true to his friends and helpful to his 
brother-artists. He excelled as a portrait-painter, though 
some of his genre pictures are excellent. It was said in 
his praise that "he neither refined the vulgar nor vulgar- 
ized the refined." He was always true to nature. His 
"Maids of Honor" and the "Spinners" are both at 
Madrid, and are said to be the best of his genre pictures. 
We will say here, for the benefit of our readers who may 
not know, that a genre picture is one which treats of sub- 
jects that illustrate every-day life and manners. The de- 
scriptions of Velasquez's pictures are so fascinating that it is 
with the greatest difficulty we refrain from copying them, 
but we must be content here, as when mentioning the 



WHAT? 449 



works of other artists, by naming the principal ones. The 
London National Gallery has his "Boar Hunt," which 
was bought for two thousand two hundred pounds from 
Lord Cowley. When ambassador at the Court of Spain 
it was given him by Ferdinand VII., who neither valued 
nor appreciated art. Landseer said of this picture, that 
he had never before seen "so much large art on so small 
a scale." 

8. Lawrence. (See t 72-4 in "What ?") 

9. Holbein. (See 188 in "What?") 

10. Ary Scheffer was born in 1795, at Dort. His 
father was a German painter ; his mother, who was the 
good genius of her son's life, was a Dutch lady. While 
a child Ary showed his love of art by dabbling with paint 
and brushes in his father's studio. This father died when 
the son was fifteen years of age, and the mother, ever 
ready to sacrifice her own to her children's interest, moved 
to Paris, where she could better educate them. The eldest 
son, Ary, she sent to a school at Lille. There was another 
brother, Henry, who also became an artist. The good 
mother cheered herself by copying, with some success 
too, the best pictures of her sons Henry and Ary. By 
the time the latter was eighteen he had begun to add to his 
artistic studies the labor of painting industriously simple, 
kindly genre pictures, such as the "Baptism," "The 
Soldier's Widow," and " The Convalescent Mother," for 
the better support of his own mother and family. In 
1 818 Scheffer received an introduction to Lafayette, and 
went to the Chateau de la Grange to paint its master. In 
1826, when he was thirty-one years of age, began his 
close and affectionate personal connection with many 
members of the Orleans family. This lasted until the 
painter's death in his own home, on the 15th of June, 
1858, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. In 1819 he ex- 
hibited "The Devotion of the Burghers of Calais" ; in 
1822, "St. Louis attacked by the Plague visiting the 
rich" ; in 1824, " Gaston de Foix found dead at Ra- 
venna" ; and in 1824, "The Death of Jeanne d'Arc." 
Scheffer never liked England or the English people, though 
he visited that country three times. He vindicated his 
German origin by beginning when quite young the series 

38* 



45° 



WHA 77 



of pictures from Faust, which he continued at intervals to 
the end of his life. As he painted historical and religious 
pictures as well as portraits, it is difficult to class him in any 
particular branch. Ary Scheffer had many crosses, losing 
first his cherished mother in 1839, tnen hi s brother Henri's 
son, to whom he acted the part of father, and was greatly 
attached, and last his wife. Then he had buried the dif- 
ferent members of the Orleans family with whom he was 
intimate, and finally his little circle of friends so dwindled 
down that he grew morose, and rarely appeared in public, 
or received company. When his admiring friends wanted 
to see him they went to his house, Rue Chaptal, where he 
passed the greater part of his life. It was a great favor 
to gain admission to his studio, for he never liked to be 
interrupted in his work, and he had ah irritable aversion 
to strangers. When in his fifty-fifth year he married the 
widow of his friend General Baudrand. She had much 
love and admiration for the painter, but in consequence 
of the foolish narrowness of her exacting regard, and her 
jealousy of Scheffer's other friends, and of his very profes- 
sion, she brought anything but rest and peace to the good 
man's hearth. Her health was exceedingly delicate when 
she married, and after some seven years of continued ill 
health, she died, leaving a daughter, whose care and affec- 
tion for her father ministered to and solaced his last years, 
and the melancholy spirit which in the end beset him. 
In 1849 ne visited the countries of his father and mother, 
Holland and Germany, being made very welcome at 
the courts of Holland and the Netherlands, and feeling, 
while he looked at the masterpieces of the Dutch painters, 
a little more content with his own gift, since, with all 
their perfection of realization and execution, he had some- 
thing which they wanted. About 1841 he painted his 
"Annunciation to the Shepherds," in 1842 his "Suffer 
Little Children to come unto Me"; in 1844 appeared 
his "Magi," and in 1847 his " Holy Women." The last 
picture he did not exhibit publicly, nor did he again send 
pictures to an exhibition. His first visit to England was 
in 1850, when he went to attend the funeral of Louis 
Philippe. While in London he visited the British Mu- 
seum, and saw to his great delight the Elgin Marbles, 



WHA 77 



451 



though he was plain in denouncing their removal from 
Greece as a " theft" on the part of Lord Elgin. The very 
next year he went again, to be present at the Manchester 
Art Exhibition, when he frankly declared his wonder at, 
and enjoyment of, the English School of Painting, par- 
ticularly in its power of coloring. In 1858 Scheffer made 
his third journey to England, in spite of the very preca- 
rious state of his own health, to again attend a funeral 
of the Orleans family, the Duchess of Orleans ; he re- 
turned to France a dying man, living only a few weeks 
longer. 

11. Van Ryn Rembrandt was born near Leyden, 
June 15, 1606. His father was a miller or maltster, and 
there is a theory that Rembrandt acquired some of his 
effects of light and shade from the impressions made 
upon him during his life in the mill. He was a pupil of 
the Latin school of Leyden, and a scholar in the studios 
both at Leyden and Amsterdam. As early as 1630, 
while yet a mere lad, he settled at Amsterdam, and in 
his twenty-eighth year married a young Dutchwoman of 
Amsterdam who owned quite a fortune, which, in case of 
her death and Rembrandt's re-marriage, was to pass to 
her children. This provision wrought in the end the 
painter's ruin. The troubles of his country in his times 
rendered Rembrandt's prices comparatively small and pre- 
carious, and he had a taste for the refined and beautiful 
like Rubens's, without Rubens's wealth to gratify it, and 
spent much more than he ought in a rare collection of 
Italian art. After eight years of wedded life the wife 
died, leaving one son, Titus ; and Rembrandt, not con- 
tent with the money, must needs go marry again, where- 
upon he was called to deliver up the little lad's inherit- 
ance. This call, together with what he had lavished on 
his collection, was too heavy upon funds never very ample, 
and the painter, after struggling with his difficulties, be- 
came, in 1656, a bankrupt. His son took possession of 
Rembrandt's house, and from the sale of the painter's art 
collection, and other resources, eventually recovered his 
mother's property, but the artist himself never rose above 
the misery, degradation, and poverty of this period. The 
remaining thirteen years of his life were passed in ob- 



452 WHAT? 



scurity, when we hear of him having acquired, when too 
late, miserly habits, keeping low company, and gradually 
sinking into vice. Rubens and Rembrandt have been 
contrasted as the painters of light and darkness; the 
contrast extended into their lives. Rembrandt's great 
merits were his strong truthfulness and his almost equally 
powerful sense of a peculiar kind of picturesqueness. It 
is in scenes by fire-light, camp-light, and torch-light that 
he excels, and his somewhat grim but very real romances 
owe their origin to the endless suggestions of the deep 
black shadows which belong to these artificial lights. 
When he paints his own flat Dutch landscape, it is under 
the sombre dimness of clouds and tempests, rather than 
in the brightness of sunshine. Two famous pictures of 
his are, the one, " Dr. Deeman (an anatomist) demon- 
strating from a dead subject," and the other is, "A man 
stealing from the gloom in the act of stabbing in the back 
the unconscious man in the foreground." His portrait 
of " A Lady Opening a Casement" is a very fine piece, 
kept at Windsor, and for the first time lent for public ex- 
hibition in 1874. Many of his pictures are in the galleries 
at Amsterdam and the Hague, and the National Gallery 
has several examples, including two of his portraits. No 
artist was so fond of painting his own portrait as Rem- 
brandt. In one of these he gives us the impression of a 
heavy face, not prone to mirth. The eyebrows are slightly 
knit over the broad nose ; the thick red lips are only half 
concealed by a scanty moustache ; he wears a flat cap and 
ear-rings. 

192. What king entered an enemy's camp disguised as 
a harper? Ans. King Alfred of England. (See 142 in 
"Who?") 

193. The Eternal City. — What city was thus called? 
Ans. Rome. 

194. Unlucky Year. — What year do the Hindoos re- 
gard as unlucky for marriage? Ans. Every twelfth year; 
and so superstitious is this nation, that it is only the most 
hardy that dare enter into wedlock during these unlucky 
three hundred and sixty-five days. 1874 was an unlucky 
year. 

195. William Turner. — What English painter after 



WHAT? 



453 



selling his pictures bought them again, and then presented 
the entire collection to the nation ? Ans. William 
Turner. 

Joseph Mallard William Turner, the great landscape- 
painter, was born in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, Lon- 
don, in 1775. His father was a hair-dresser in humble 
circumstances. His mother was a woman of a violent 
temper, and finally grew insane. A drawing of the old 
church at Margate is believed to have been draAvn in his 
ninth year. He early exhibited his drawings in the 
window of his father's shop. Being brought up in the 
heart of the city, the quaint old buildings fostered and 
perhaps originated his taste for architecture, and the broad 
Thames developed his predilection for river scenery under 
every aspect, while visits to uncles who lived in Bristol 
and Brentford brought him in contact with fresh land- 
scapes. When fourteen years of age he became a student 
of the Royal Academy ; when twenty-five he was elected 
associate, and three years later, 1800, a member. A year 
after his entrance in the Academy he exhibited a sketch of 
" A View of the Archbishop's Palace at Lambeth." Of 
thirty-two drawings shown later, twenty-three were views 
of the great cathedrals and abbey churches of the king- 
dom. Turner had already started on those sketching 
tours which he prosecuted so indefatigably, and which he 
turned to marvelous account. From the first he made his 
arrangements with the jealous secrecy which was so marked 
a feature in the man, and conducted himself with char- 
acteristic eccentricity. While sketching in a street in 
Oxford, being annoyed by the curiosity of the passers-by, 
he hired an old post-chaise, brought it on the scene of ac- 
tion, entered it, and from its window finished his sketch. 
Later in life he was in the habit of setting out on long, 
solitary tours, letting no one know his destination, and 
holding no communion with friends at home. Often he 
would not occupy his own house, but live here and there 
for weeks at a time, under an assumed name, in obscure 
lodgings, so he could paint without being annoyed by in- 
trusions. While lodging in a small cottage west of Bat- 
tersea Bridge, near Cremorne, Chelsea, under the name 
of Brooks, or Booth, he died, alone as he had lived, with 



454 



WHAT; 



no friend or kindred near him, in December, 1851, in his 
seventy-sixth year. His remains were taken to his house 
— it could not be called his home — in Queen Anne Street, 
from which his funeral proceeded with some state to the 
cathedral of St. Paul, where he was buried in the crypt 
near Sir Joshua Reynolds. At first Turner confined him- 
self to water-colors, the art of using which was still in its 
infancy. In 1797 he exhibited his first picture in oil, 
"View of the Thames at Millbank by Moonlight." In 
1801 and 1802 he traveled in France and Switzerland, 
sketching constantly during his absence. Five years later 
he was appointed professor of perspective in the Academy, 
which office he filled for thirty years. In 1820 he sold 
his famous series of prints in brown ink, called "Liber 
Studiorum," consisting of seventy-one plates, for fourteen 
guineas. One of the matchless series alone would bring 
that price now. Turner was constantly engaged by the 
booksellers in illustrating their editions of "Southern Coast 
Scenery," " England and Wales," etc. He paid frequent 
visits to Italy, the last being about 1840. In 181 2 he 
built for himself a house and gallery in Queen Anne 
Street, and he also had a country-house in Twickenham. 
He was amassing a large fortune, and his fame was well 
and fully established, while he became more cynical and 
repulsive. He was reserved and morose from his youth, 
yet there was a certain bearish geniality where his brother 
artists were concerned. His pupils and companions, 
when he had any, regarded him with mingled admira- 
tion, wonder, and awe, then grew disgusted with his 
vulgar ways and manners. He was short and stout, with 
a very red and somewhat blotched face, in which the 
bright and restless eyes looked at one keenly and critic- 
ally over the aquiline nose. He was slovenly in his dress, 
and worked with either his hat on or a big scarf, which he 
wore around his neck winter or summer, thrown over his 
head. His hands are described as " the smallest and dirti- 
est hands on record." Turner rarely lived in his Queen 
Anne Street house, but kept his pictures there, suffering 
both house and pictures to fall into the greatest dilapida- 
tion. In the latter part of his life he not only refused to 
sell many of his pictures, appearing to take a malicious 



WHAT? 



455 



pleasure in the refusal, but bought back several pictures 
that he had sold, and suffered the whole collection to be 
irreparably injured by the damp and decay of utter neg- 
lect ; then this strange man — half-mad we must think him 
■ — bequeathed it, like a prince, to the English nation. 
This collection amounted to some ninety-eight finished 
oils, and in the neighborhood of a thousand sketches and 
drawings. He made the condition in his will that his 
two pictures, " Dido Building Carthage" and "The Sun 
in the Mist," were to be hung between Claude's two cele- 
brated pictures, "The Embarkation of the Queen of 
Sheba" and " The Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca." Un- 
less the National Gallery would consent to this demand 
they could not have his pictures. He considered himself 
as fine an artist as Claude, and was jealous during his life- 
time of the praises that Claude's pictures drew from the 
judges of art. As an English landscape-painter Turner is 
now considered to fill the first place. Water-color paint- 
ing he is said almost to have made. "His delight in deli- 
cate gradations of color led him to adopt the practice of 
painting on a white or light ground, a practice which he 
transferred to painting in oil, thus causing a great change 
to be wrought on the British school by introducing that 
brightness and lightness in landscape-painting which is 
broadly distinguished from the darkness in the foreign 
schools, and which in an unskilled hand degenerated into 
what' is called chalkiness." His picture of "Antwerp, 
Van Gover looking out for a Subject," brought two 
thousand five hundred and ten guineas; "Wreckers," 
eighteen hundred and ninety guineas; and "Venice, — 
the Campo Santo," two thousand guineas. Two drawings, 
such as "Scarborough Castle, — Boys Crab-Fishing" and 
" Woodcock-Shooting," brought Turner five hundred and 
twenty and five hundred and ten guineas. 

196. " Decamerone." — What celebrated Italian poet 
wrote it? Am. Giovanni Boccaccio. 

Boccaccio, an Italian, one of the restorers of learning, 
was born at Certaldo, in Tuscany, in the year 1313. He 
studied under Petrarch, who was his friend and patron. 
After residing abroad for a time, he returned to his native 
village, where he passed the remainder of his days in lit- 



456 WHAT? 



erary pursuits. His constitution was weakened by his 
great application, and we hear of his dying in 1375 of 
a very grave and complicated disease called "sickness of 
the stomach." His works are both Latin and Italian. He 
possessed uncommon learning, and he shares with a few 
others the honor of contributing to the revival of learning 
in Europe. " Decamerone," his most celebrated com- 
position, is a licentious but a witty and satirical romance, 
written to please Joanna, with whom he fell in love while 
in Naples, in 1341. She was generally supposed to be an 
illegitimate daughter of King Robert, whose successor she 
.became on his death. Decamerone consists of one hun- 
dred stories, ten of which are told each day by seven gen- 
tlemen and three ladies, who had fled from Florence during 
the terrible plague of 1348, to a country villa, and who 
try to banish fears by abandoning every moment to deli- 
cious gayety. His poetry is not equal to that of Petrarch's, 
but his prose is unrivaled for its simplicity, grace, and 
elegance. 

197. " Prince of Roman Poets." — What great man 
was thus called? Ans. Virgil. 

Virgil was born at Andes, a village near Mantua, about 
70 B.C. Having lost his farms in the distribution of lands 
to the soldiers of Augustus after the battle of Philippi, 
he repaired to Rome, where he obtained an order for the 
restitution of his property through the influence of the 
powerful minister Maecenas. When he showed this order 
to the centurion who was in possession, he nearly killed Vir- 
gil, and the latter escaped only by swimming across the 
river. Virgil, in his " Bucolics" or " Pastorals," celebrates 
the praises of his illustrious patrons. He undertook his 
" Georgics" in order to promote the study of agriculture, 
and the design of the ".^Eneid" is thought to have been 
to reconcile the Romans to a monarchical government. 
By his talents and virtues he acquired the friendship of 
Horace, — the greatest of the Roman lyric poets, — of the 
Emperor Augustus, and the most celebrated personages 
of his time. Virgil's constitution being always delicate, 
he traveled much for his health, visiting Greece and 
many parts of Italy. He died in his fifty-first year, at 
Brundusium. There is no account of his marriage. It 



WHAT? 



457 



is said he was of low parentage, and was stable-boy to the 
Emperor Augustus. On his death-bed he ordered the 
"^Eneid" to be burned, saying that it was incomplete, 
and not worthy to be handed down to posterity. He 
was buried in the neighborhood of Naples, where his 
tomb is still to be seen. He left his immense possessions 
to his friends. 

198. Population of the World. — What is it? 
Ans. A Berlin professor states it in the following man- 
ner : "Europe contains 72,000,000 inhabitants; Asia, 
720,000,000; Africa, 9,000,000; America, 200,000,000; 
and Polynesia, 2,000,000; total, 1,283,000,000. Of this 
little crowd about 32,000,000 die each year, which is 
87,671 a day, or 61 per minute." 

199. Reigning Monarchs of Europe. — What are 
their salaries? Ans. A German statistician gives them as 
the following: "Alexander II., nine million one hun- 
dred and fifty-two thousand dollars, or twenty-five thou- 
sand dollars a day ; Abdul Aziz, nine million dollars, or 
eighteen thousand dollars a day ; Francis Joseph, four 
million dollars, or ten thousand and fifty dollars a day; 
Frederick William II. , three million dollars, or eight thou- 
sand two hundred dollars a day; Victoria, two million 
two hundred thousand dollars, or six thousand two hun- 
dred and seventy dollars a day. In addition to this 
salary, each of these individuals is furnished with a dozen 
or more first-class houses to live in without any charge for 
rent." With all this some of them find it hard work to 
keep out of debt. 

200. Precious Stones. — What precious stones are 
said to rule the different months of the year? Ans. Ac- 
cording to the old astrologers we are each born under the 
guidance of some special planet, which has an influence 
over our future lives. To this belief or superstition the 
Polish people add that of the gem legend, which teaches 
that every planet has a valuable stone connected with it, 
and that if one were to wear the gem as a charm on his 
person, it would insure the possessor the coveted good 
luck of the motto of the stone. The nearer one is born 
within the circle of the planet that reigns during the 
month of one's birth the more is he ruled by the virtue 

u 39 



458 WHAT? 



that the planet and the stone are supposed to confer. 
Thus, one may be born so far outside of the ring of the 
magic circle as scarcely to be endowed at all with the 
luck the stone is supposed to bring with it. The stones 
and their significance are the following : January is gar- 
net, and indicates constancy. February, amethyst, sin- 
cerity. March, bloodstone, courage. April, diamond, 
innocence. May, emerald, success in love. June, agate, 
health and long life. July, carnelian, content. August, 
sardonyx, conjugal felicity. September, chrysolite, anti- 
dote to madness. October, opal, hope. November, 
topaz, fidelity. December, turquoise, prosperity. 

201. Trajan. — What reign did the Romans consider 
the brightest in their annals ? Ans. That under Trajan. 

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Trajan was born at Seville, in 
Spain, and on the death of Nerva was chosen to succeed 
him, 98 a.d. Trajan was distinguished for his bold and 
straightforward character, his philanthropy of spirit, and 
kindness of heart, as well as for his military capacity. It 
was for these qualities that the good Nerva chose him 
for the support of his throne and adopted him into his 
family, and not for his riches or rank, as he was the son 
of a plain officer in the army of Vespasian. Trajan was 
popular with all classes, but never sought to ingratiate 
himself with any one at the expense of others. The Ro- 
mans for many generations regarded the reign of Trajan 
as the brightest epoch in their annals. The bent of his 
genius was military, and he humored the passions of the 
army as well as his own by the wars he waged against the 
enemies of Rome. He reduced the countries of modern 
Hungary and Transylvania to the form of a province, and 
penetrated into the deserts of Arabia, extending the em- 
pire, nominally at least, as far as the city of Medina. He 
conquered the Dacians and added their empire to that of 
Rome. Almost the only stain resting on the character 
of this emperor is the terrible persecution of the Chris- 
tians which he countenanced during his reign. Pliny the 
Younger was a great friend of his. Trajan married Plo- 
tina, to whom he was deeply attached, and proved him- 
self a tender husband. He had no children, and nomi- 
nated, by the advice of his wife, Hadrian to succeed him. 



WHAT? 



459 



He died, during an absence from Rome, at Selinus, in 
Cilicia, 117 a.d.* 

202. Lucretia Borgia. — What woman celebrated for 
her beauty, cruelty, and treachery was the daughter of a 
Pope? Ans. Lucretia Borgia. 

Lucretia Borgia was the only daughter of Pope Alexan- 
der VI., by his mistress Vanozza. When we add that she 
was a natural sister of Cesare Borgia, one of the coolest 
and most deliberate villains that ever drew breath, — if we 
except his father, — we can at once form some estimate of 
her character. She was possessed of wonderful beauty and 
terrible fascinations, causing even her enemies to admire 
her, despite her treacheries and deeds that make us shiver 
with very horror even to think of them. She was first 
married to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro, but divorced 
from him by her father, who soon afterwards united her to 
Alfonso of Aragon, a natural son of Alfonso II. of Naples. 
They were only united two years, when the unfortunate 
husband was assassinated before the great door of the 
Church of St. Peter. It is generally supposed that Cesare 
Borgia, jealous of him, either himself committed this deed 
or caused it to be done. The fair widow Lucretia was 
not long left unconsoled, as in the following year, 1501, 
she was married to another Alfonso, by name of D'Este, 
the son of the reigning Duke of Ferrara. From this time 
on we are told that Lucretia, whatever may have been her 
previous character, became the ornament of the court of 
Ferrara, the patron of learning, and was intrusted by her 
husband with the principal administration of his affairs 
during his military expeditions, in which she acquitted 
herself with ability and dignity. Her conduct before had 
been scandalous, and her immorality a common subject 
of talk among her contemporaries, but now she adopted 
Bembo, during her husband's long absences, as men of 
letters had to be patronized, and he celebrated her in his 
works, and told the world how she had been abused, and 
how her conduct had been misrepresented by cruel tra- 
ducers. 

203. Admirable Crichton. — What youth of twenty 



* Encyclopaedia Britannica. 



4 6o WHAT? 



years challenged the learned doctors and scholars of Paris 
to dispute with him on any question in any one of twelve 
languages ? Ans. Admirable Crichton. 

James Crichton, or, as he is commonly styled, "The 
Admirable Crichton," was born at the castle of Cluny, 
Perthshire, about 1560, and was the son of Robert Crich- 
ton, lord advocate of Scotland. This Scottish prodigy 
graduated when he was only fourteen as an A.M. in the 
University of St. Andrew's, and before he was twenty 
could speak ten languages. He was handsome in form and 
feature, and excelled in drawing, fencing, dancing, music, 
and other accomplishments. In the course of a conti- 
nental tour about 1580, he challenged the doctors and 
scholars of Paris to dispute with him, at an appointed 
time, on any question in any one of twelve specified lan- 
guages. Having by this means assembled a numerous 
company of professors and others, he acquitted himself to 
the general admiration. Proceeding from Paris to Italy, 
he repeated his exhibition, and obtained similar triumphs 
in Rome, Venice, and Padua. Aldus Manutius describes 
the eclat with which he sustained for three days a contest 
in philosophy and mathematics at Padua. The Duke of 
Mantua employed Crichton as a tutor to his son Vincenzo, 
a dissolute youth. One night, about 1582, he was attacked 
by six persons in masks, whom he repulsed. Having dis- 
armed one of them and found it was his pupil, he returned 
the sword to Vincenzo, who plunged it into the heart of 
Crichton. He left four short Latin poems, which are said 
by Dr. Kippis " not to stand the test of a rigid examina- 
tion." Scaliger speaks of him as "a man of very won- 
derful genius, more worthy of admiration than esteem. 
He had something of the coxcomb about him, and only 
wanted a little common sense." 

204. South Sea Bubble. — What was it? Ans. In 
1 67 1 there was born in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, 
a man by the name of John Law, who afterwards became 
a famous projector and financier. About 1694 he went 
to London, where, by means of his handsome figure and 
graceful address, he gained admission into fashionable 
society, and supported himself by gaming. Having killed 
a man in a duel, he fled to the Continent, where he fol- 



WHAT? 461 



lowed the trade of a gambler with great success in Paris, 
Venice, Genoa, etc. About 1715 he persuaded the Due 
d'Orleans, Regent of France, to favor a scheme by which 
he promised to greatly improve the financial condition of 
the kingdom. In 1716 he obtained a charter for a general 
bank of issue and discount, under the name of Law & 
Company. In connection with this bank he formed the 
Mississippi Company, with a capital of one hundred mil- 
lion francs (a silver coin of the value of nearly ten pence 
sterling), and with the exclusive right of the trade be- 
tween France and Louisiana, China, India, etc. The 
stock of these companies was bought up with avidity, and 
the former was soon erected into the Royal Bank, with 
the privilege of coining gold and silver. The hope of 
enormous profits infatuated the public so generally that 
the stock of the company rose to twenty times its original 
value. In January,. 1720, Law was appointed controleur- 
general de finances (i.e. prime minister). The fall of his 
baseless fabric was sudden and ruinous that same year, 
when the public confidence began to fail, and the notes 
of his bank fell to one-tenth of their nominal value. To 
escape the vengeance of the enraged populace, Law was 
obliged to flee to Venice, where he died in great poverty 
in 1729. His system is often called the " South Sea Bub- 
ble." Hogarth has given two admirable prints of the 
" South Sea Bubble." In the first, Mr. Walpole says, we 
see "The Devil cutting Fortune into collops" to gratify 
the avaricious hopes of the adventurers in this scheme ; 
and persons ascending the ladder to ride upon wooden 
horses ; alluding to the desperate game which was played 
by the South Sea Directors in England in 1720, to the 
utter destruction of many opulent families. The little 
figure with his hand in the pocket of a fat personage was 
supposed to have been intended for Pope, who profited 
by the South Sea scheme, and the fat man to be meant for 
Gay, who was a loser in that iniquitious "project. 

205. "Holland House," London. — What associa- 
tions are connected with it ? Ans. For nearly fifty years 
"Holland House," the suburban residence of Lord 
Henry Richard and Lady Holland in Kensington, was the 
resort of eminent personages, and the scene of elegant 

39* 



462 WHAT* 



and princely hospitality. It was a fine old mansion with 
many interesting historical associations, and was stored 
with much that was valuable in art and literature, con- 
taining one of the most remarkable private libraries to be 
found in London. Lord Holland, son of Stephen Fox, 
and nephew of the great Charles James Fox, was the third 
Lord Holland. His son dying in 1859 without issue, 
the title became extinct, "Holland House" and other 
estates passing into the hands of the daughter, who mar- 
ried Lord Lilford. Lord Holland had a great love of 
classical literature, both ancient and modern. From his 
uncle, to whom he bore a strong family resemblance, he im- 
bibed an ardent hatred of oppression, an attachment to the 
leading principles of the British Constitution, indignant 
detestation of religious persecution, and a sympathy for 
all nations endeavoring to shake off the yoke of tyranny. 
With these strong affections and decided tastes he united 
a love of society, which absorbed much of his time and 
dissipated much of his energies. He was graceful and 
lively in his conversation, cheerful in disposition, kind to 
all around him, tolerant of the opinions of others. Joined 
to this was a keen sense of the ridiculous, and a wonder- 
ful power of mimicry, which he never failed to use in re- 
lating the speeches and debates of the chief speakers of 
Parliament. These many and various qualities combined 
to make him the " pleasantest host who ever presided 
over a hospitable feast." He was a writer of much force 
and originality, having published, among other volumes, 
"Three Comedies from the Spanish," "Foreign Rem- 
iniscences," and " Memoirs of the Whig Party during my 
Times, by Henry Lord Holland." Being throughout his 
life a consistent Whig, the political visitors at his table 
were almost exclusively of that party, though it was always 
a matter of rejoicing to Lady Holland when she could in- 
veigle a stray Tory to mingle with them. Mr. Gifford 
once said "he wished that they could get up a l Holland 
House' on the Tory side of the question." In Italy Lord 
Holland formed a connection with Elizabeth, daughter 
and heiress of Richard Vassall, and wife of Sir Godfrey 
Webster, who procured a divorce from her, and recovered 
damages in six thousand pounds from Lord Holland. In 



WHA T? 463 



1797 they were married. Fully appreciating her hus- 
band's talents, Lady Holland took care to collect around 
him nearly every man of eminence in the political, lit- 
erary, scientific, and social world. Each received a genial 
welcome, and shared in a refined and friendly intercourse, 
no less remarkable for its absence of formality or ex- 
clusiveness than for its wit and intelligence. Lord and 
Lady Holland were both interested in the lonely exile on 
St. Helena, and the latter frequently sent him books, 
periodicals, and other comforts. "The master-hand at 
' Holland House' was that of the mistress, Lady Holland, 
a bright, sprightly, remarkable woman in every way ; su- 
preme in her own mansion and family, intolerant of the 
slightest opposition, she exercised a singular and seem- 
ingly capricious tyranny even over guests of the highest 
rank and position. Capricious it seemed, but there was 
in reality intention in all she did, and this intention 
was the maintenance of power, which she gained and 
strenuously used, though not without discretion in fixing 
its limits. No one knew better when to change her 
mood and to soothe by kind and flattering words the 
provocation she had just given, and was very apt to 
give. She never deserted an old friend, whatever his 
condition might be. The influence she exercised was 
doubtless aided by large general reading, of which she 
made sedulous and skillful use. Her management of 
conversation at the dinner-table, sometimes arbitrary 
and in rude arrest of others, sometimes courteously in- 
viting the subject, furnished a study in itself. Every 
guest felt her presence, and generally more or less suc- 
cumbed to it. Lady Holland was acute in distinguish- 
ing between real and false merit, and merciless in her 
treatment of the latter. Not a woman of wit in words, 
she had what might well be called consummate practical 
wit in all her relations to society." She had been known 
to send guests away and ask them to come another day 
when she found her table was too full, as frequently hap- 
pened. Moore relates that he once found Gore in the 
hall putting on his great-coat, to take his departure, hav- 
ing been sent away by Lady Holland. At this same dinner 
the table was so crowded that Allen, — familiarly called 



464 WHA T? 



John Allen, who had been a member of the family for 
over forty years, — after he had performed his carving part, 
retired to a small side-table to dine. Rogers once re- 
marked " that the close packing of Lady Holland's 
dinners was one of the secrets of their conversableness 
and agreeableness." Lord Holland himself came to it 
day after day, wholly ignorant w T hom he was to find there. 
He occupied a corner of the table, and it is to be doubted 
whether he ever himself ventured to invite a guest. After 
his death Lady Holland's dinners were still the most 
agreeable in London. The last she gave was in October, 
1845, when the first sign of the illness which closed 
her life in less than a month afterwards showed itself. 
Among the famous men who are closely connected with 
the associations of " Holland House" are Sir James Mack- 
intosh, charming all with his brilliant conversation ; Syd- 
ney Smith, with his wit and humor; his brother Robert, 
with his vast store of knowledge ; Moore, with his mu- 
sical powers ; Leslie, Lawrence, and Sir Joshua Reynolds; 
Sir Walter Scott, on his rare visits to London ; Lords 
Melbourne, Carlisle, and Cowper ; Sir Philip Francis, who 
thought the letters of Junius could not add to his fame ; 
Samuel Rogers, Byron, Washington Irving, Newton, 
Charles and Lady Mary Fox, Lord John Russell, 
Brougham, Jeffrey, Sir Humphry and Lady Davy, Lord 
and Lady Lansdowne, so closely allied with Moore and 
their charming home at Bowood; Talleyrand was such a 
constant visitor that Sydney Smith once said, " You are sure 
to be Talleyranded at the Holland House;" Macaulay, 
Hallam ; and here Thiers and Lord Palmerston met for 
the first time, and savagely glowered at one another. 

206. Douglas Jerrold. — What author having some 
reputation as a dramatist has become more famous for his 
brilliancy of wit than for his writings? Ans. Douglas 
Jerrold. 

Douglas Jerrold, dramatist, journalist, and miscellaneous 
writer, was born in London on the 3d of January, 1803. 
His father was manager of Sheerness Theatre, in Sheer- 
ness, a seaport at the mouth of the Thames, where there 
is a large naval arsenal and a dock where men-of-war are 
repaired and refitted. The signs of naval warfare by 



WHAT? 465 



which young Jerrold was surrounded made such an im- 
pression on him that he was not satisfied until he had ob- 
tained a midshipman's appointment in the service. When 
the war with Napoleon was over, he was apprenticed to 
a printer, and here his literary tastes were developed. 
After his hours of labor he devoted himself to books, the 
chief of which was Shakspeare, and made himself master 
of several languages. In 1829 he published his first dra- 
matic production, "Black-Eyed Susan," one of the most 
popular dramas of modern times. Later he produced 
several five-act comedies, the best-known of which are 
"Time Works Wonders" and "The Bubbles of a Day." 
But his fame rests more securely upon his novels, sketches, 
and essays than on his dramatic works. His " Men of 
Character" was originally published in "Blackwood." In 
1841 he joined the staff of " Punch," and contributed to 
that periodical "A Story of a Feather" and the celebrated 
lectures known as "The Caudle Lectures," than which 
nothing in a richer, spicier vein of humor has ever been 
written. "The Chronicles of Clovernook" is pronounced 
the " kindliest and most delightful of all his books," and 
"St. Giles and St. James" his "most elaborate novel." 
For several years before his death he edited " Lloyd's 
Weekly Newspaper." He died at Kilburn Priory, in the 
fifty-fifth year of his age, of disease of the heart. "If 
Jerrold was not a great man, as the term is generally un- 
derstood; he was certainly a very brilliant one. But the 
wit and drollery of his writings, however great, would not 
perhaps have made him the remarkable power he was if 
he had not also possessed such a wonderful talent for col- 
loquial repartee. In his day, and perhaps at no time, was 
any one in London half so noted for the brilliancy and 
originality of his sayings. Generally his wit derived its 
value from the sense lying under it. Always sharp, often 
caustic, it was never morose or ill-natured ; for Douglas 
Jerrold was in reality a kind-hearted man, full of feeling 
and tenderness, and of true goodness and worth, talent 
and accomplishments, he was ever the hearty admirer." 
His bright, pungent sayings passed during his lifetime 
from lip to lip, becoming the bon mots of London clubs 
and fashionable society, where he shone greater than in 
u* 



466 WHAT? 



his closet. Like a flint, every stroke brought fire from 
him. His son, William Blanchard Jerrold, wrote ''Life 
and Remains of Douglas Jerrold" and " Douglas Jerrold's 
Wit and Humor." 

207. Heinrich Heine. — What German writer ex- 
pressed a desire in his will that no religious ceremonies 
should be celebrated at his funeral ? Ans. Heinrich Heine. 

Heinrich Heine, a celebrated German poet and author, 
of Jewish extraction, was born at Dusseldorf in 1800. 
He studied law at Bonn, Berlin, and Gottingen, and took 
his degree at the Gottingen university. His first poems 
appeared in 1822, and were followed by the tragedies of 
"Almansor" and " Radcliff" (1823). In 1825 he re- 
nounced the Jewish faith and professed Christianity; but 
he subsequently became an avowed unbeliever. His 
" Pictures of Travel" were received with great favor, and 
were afterwards translated by him into French, under the 
title of "Tableaux de Voyages." His other principal 
works are the "Book of Songs," "Contributions to the 
History of Recent Belles-Lettres in Germany," " Der 
Salon," "The Romantic School," and the poem of " Atta 
Troll, a Summer Night's Dream." Heine had removed 
in 1 83 1 to Paris, where he married a French lady, and 
where he resided till his death. About 1848 his health 
became very much impaired, and he lost his sight ; but he 
still employed himself in literary composition, with the 
assistance of an amanuensis. Among the works he pro- 
duced at this period are the "Romanzero," "Doctor 
Faust, " " Das Buch des Lazarus, ' ' and the * ' New Spring. ' ' 
After an illness of eight years, a great part of which time 
had been passed in extreme suffering, he died in February, 
1856. Several years before his death he had renounced 
infidelity. The spirit of satire seems to have been innate 
in Heine; but it is not in satire alone that he excels. For 
a certain simplicity and grace of style, as well as for an 
exquisite vein of humor, which is occasionally lighted up 
with flashes of the most brilliant wit, Heine has no superior 
among the poets or prose writers of Germany. His prose 
is remarkable for its transparent beauty, and is perhaps 
unequaled by that of any other German author except 
Goethe. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Abelard and Heloise, p. 223 12 

Abbotsford, Abbey of, p. 190 212 

Acropolis, The, p. 287 33 

Actium, Battle of, p. 196 218-2 

Adams, William T., p. 180.... 189 

Addison, Joseph, p. 62 53 

" Addison of the North," p. 168.... 161 

Adrian, Roman Emperor, p. 135 129 

^Eschylus, p. 40 27 

JEsop, p. 37 23 

Agamemnon, King of Greece, p. 81 71 

Age of Painting, p. 400 '. 147 

Agincourt, Battle of, p. 83 77 

Agitator, The Irish, p. 180 ;... 188 

Agravaine, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 Mi 

Akenside, Mark, p. 53 42-3 

" Alexander of the North," p. 169.. 166 

Alexander the Great, p. 386 136 

Alfred the Great, English King, p. 

148 142 

Alhambra, The, p. 416 161 

Alphabet introduced into Greece, p. 

44 35 

Alps, what Conquerors crossed the, 

P- 278 32 

Ancient Fathers, who were the 

three, p. 77 67 

"Angelic Doctor," who was called, 

p. 169 162 

Angelo, Michael, p. 129 125 

Anguisciola, Sofonisba, p. 440 191-3 

Animals, celebrated Figures of, p, 

412 156 

Annie of Cleves, p. 337 80-4 

Antarctic Continent, who discov- 
ered, p. 119 116 

Antigonus, p. 137 131 

Apelles, The Painter, p. 84 80 

Apollo, The God, p. 172 167-4 

Apollodorus, The Architect, p. 436 188 
Apollodorus, The Painter, p. 436... 188 
Apollonius, The Grammarian, p. 

190 213 

Apoplexy, Authors died of, p. 367 116 

Aquinas, Thomas, p. 162 162 

"Arcadia," who wrote, p. 62 53 

Architecture, The Five Orders of, p. 

343 86 



NO. 

Aristides, p. 74 62 

Aristotle, p. 36 22 

Armour, Jean, p. 302 44 

Army, Largest, mentioned in His- 
tory, p. 112 105 

Arnold, George, p. 320 58-10 

Art, what Century the Foundation 

of, p. 396 143 

Artist, First Female, p. 188 208 

Arundelian Marbles, p. 83 75 

Ascham, Roger, p. 320 71 

Assassinated, what German Poet 

was, p. 323 66 

Astronomy first cultivated, p. 379... 131 

Athens, City of, p. 287 33 

Athens, who founded, p. 82 75 

" Athenian Bee," who was called 

the, p. 169 164 

Auber, Daniel, Musician, p. 366 114 

" Auld Robin Gray," who wrote, p. 

127 122 

Austerlitz, Battle of, p. 282 32-2 

Austin, Lady Anne, p. 88 84 

Avon, Bard of, p. 9 1 

Azrael, The Angel, p. 16 7 



Babylon, Hanging Gardens of, p. 

298 241-3 

Babylon, Walls of, p. 361 112 

Babylon, who founded, p. 189 211 

Bacon, Roger, p. 107 97 

Bacon, Sir Francis, p. 219 230 

Baillie, Joanna, p. 22 16 

Balzac, Honore de, p. 57 49 

Banker Poet, who was called the, 

p. 116 112 

" Barleycorn, Sir John," p. 219 231 

Barnard, Lady Anne, p. 127 122 

Barton, Bernard, p. 248 7 

Bayard, Chevalier, p. 127 123 

Beard, First Roman Emperor who 

wore a, p. 141 137 

Beards cut off before going into Bat- 
tle, p. 386 136 

Beaumont, Francis, p. 320 58-17 

Bedford, Poor Tinker of, p. 220 232 

Beethoven, German Musician, p. 
364 "4-4 



467 



468 



INDEX. 



Beheaded, The First King, p. 137... 131 

" Bell, Currer," p. 20 13 

Bell, Largest, in the World, p. 226.. 15 

Bella Donna, Titian's, p. 322 65-3 

Bells, where first invented, p. 222... 6 

Belus, Temple of, p. 300 41-6 

" Birmingham Doctor," p. 111 102 

"Black Prince," p. 113 107 

Blackwood's Magazine, p. 369 117 

Blair, Hugh, p. 334 77-1 

Blind, what Authors were, p. 287... 34 

Bloomfield, Robert, p. 292 39 

" Blue Beard," who wrote, p. 169... 163 

Boadicea, Queen, p. 253 14 

Boccaccio, Italian Poet, p. 455 196 

Boleyn, Anne, p. 337 80-2 

Bonheur, Rosa, p. 360 in 

Book, First one printed in English, 

p. 346 101 

Borgia, Lucretia, p. 459 202 

Botany, Father of, p. 79 69 

Boz, Origin of Dickens's, p. 239.... n 

Brainard, JohnG., p. 73 61-5 

Brains, largest on Record, p. 103... 91 
" Bravest of the Brave/' who was 

called, p. 163 154 

"Bricklayer," what Poet a, p. 432. 18-1 

Bridge of Sighs, p. 222 5 

Bronte, Charlotte, p. 20 13 

Brooks, James G., p. 73 61-6 

Brown, Thomas, The Younger, p. 

166 158 

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, p. 79. 70 

Bruce, Robert, p. 416 159 

Bucephalus, The War-Horse, p. 394. 142 

Bulwer, Sir Edward, p. 250 12 

Bunyan, John, p. 291 37 

Burns, Robert, p. 302 44 

Butcher's Son, what Poet a, p. 357. 106 

Butler, Samuel, p. 99 89 

Byron, George Gordon, p. 60 52 

"Byron of her Sex," who was 

called, p. 247 6 

" Byron with a Little B," who was 

styled, p. 251 12 



C. 



Cadmus, p. 44 35 

Caesar, Augustus, p. 195 218-2 

Caesar, Julius, p. 141 135 

Caesars, The Twelve, p. 195 218 

Caligula, Roman Emperor, p. 250... n 

Camelot, p. 223 11 

Campbell, Mary, p. 175 173 

Campbell, Thomas, p. 52 42-1 

Cannae, Battle of, p. 285 32-3 

Canova, where buried, p. 225 13-1 

" Canterbury Tales," who wrote, 

P- 77 66 

Canvas Painting, when first done, 

P- 404 147-3 

Capua, Army lost its Virtue at, p. 

408 154 

Cards, who invented, p. 83 77 



Carpenter, Lant, p. 374 124-4 

Carthage, City of, p. 84 79 

" Castle of Indolence," who wrote, 

P- 144 136 

Cathay, Country called, p. 361 113 

Cathedral, Largest, in the World, p. 

234 7 

Catherine of Aragon, p. 337 80 

Cato, p. 137 132 

" Caudle Lectures," who wrote the, 

~ p. 465 206 

Caxton, William, p. 95 87 

Cecrops, p. 82 75 

Ceres, The Goddess, p. 173 167-2 

Cervantes, p. 76 64 

Chaldeans, who were the, p. 174.... 168 

Champollion, p. 92 85 

Charlemagne, p. 128 124 

Charles I. of England, p. 154 150 

Charles II. of England, p. 413 158 

Charles VI. of France, p. 83 77 

Charles XII. of Sweden, p. 169 166 

Chatterton, Thomas, p. 244 2 

Chaucer, Geoffrey, p. 21. 15 

Children, Nation that destroyed, p. 

380 134 

Christian II. of Norway and Sweden, 

P- 183 197 

Christians, First Persecution of, p. 

216 228 

Cibber, Colley, p. 34 18-11 

Cicero, p. 375 125 

Cincinnatus, Roman Dictator, p. 

136 130 

City celebrated for Genius and 

Taste, p. 287 33 

City famed for Juvenile Submis- 
sion, p. 301 44 

City that had more Statues than In- 
habitants, p. 426 175 

Claudius, Roman Emperor, p. 205. 221 

Clemens, Samuel L., p. 67 56 

Cleopatra, p. 133 127 

Clergymen, American Poets that 

were, p. 311 49 

Clio, p. 175 175 

Cockney School of Literature, p. 

408 155 

Coin made by use of Hammer only, 

P- 322 63 

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, p. 294.. 40-1 

Colonna, Vittoria, p. 131 125 

Colosseum in Rome, p. 180 193 

Colossus of Rhodes, p. 299 41-4 

Commoner, The Great, p. 178 185 

Congress, First President of Ameri- 
can, p. 176 179 

Conrad III. of Germany, p. 418 170 

Conversationalist, The Great, p. 

357 io 5 

Cook, Captain James, p. 122 118 

Copernicus, Nicholas, p. 87 82 

Copyright, Largest Sum ever paid 

for a, p. 427 178 

Corday, Charlotte, p. 112 226 

Corelli, Arcangelo, p. 363 "4 _ 3 



INDEX. 



469 



Corneille, Peter, p. 87 83 

Cornelia, Roman Matron, p. 162.... 152 
" Corn-Law Rhymer," who was 

called, p. 246 5 

Cornwall, Barry, p. 17 9 

Corporal, The Little, p. 174 170 

Correggio, Italian Painter, p. 404. 147-4 

Corrupter, The Great, p. 180 190 

Court-Painter to Henry VI II., p. 

433 187 

Cowper, William, p. 87 84 

Coxe, A. Cleveland, p. 311 49-2 

Cranmer, Archbishop, p. 98 88-2 

Crayon, Geoffrey, p. 59 50 

Crecy, Battle of, p. 113 170 

Crichton, Admirable, p. 459 203 

Crime greater to kill an Animal than 

a Man, p. 144 138 

Crcesus, p. 165 155 

Cromwell, Oliver, p. 153 150 

Crosby, Mrs. Fanny, p. 162 153 

Crowley. George, p. 367 116-2 

Crown Jewels of England, p. 222... 8 

Crusoe, Robinson, p. 41 28 

" Culprit Fay," who wrote, p. no. 101 

Cupid, p. 174 167-6 

Cuvier, George L., p. 78 68 

Cyprian, p. 78 67-3 

Cyrus, Persian King, p. 181 194 



D. 

Dante, p. 396 144-1 

Darius, Persian King, p. 387 136 

Darnley, Lord, p. 353 104 

Davenant, Sir William, p. 35 18-12 

Davy, Sir Humphry, p. 117 115 

Dead, Queen of the, p. 139 134 

" Decamerone," who wrote, p. 455.. 196 

Decemviri, The, p. 407 151 

De Foe, Daniel, p. 41 29 

Demosthenes, p. 76 63 

De Quincey, Thomas, p. 19 11 

Destiny, Fruit of, p. 327 67 

Devonshire, Duchess of, p. 407 150 

Diamond, Largest, in the World, p. 

232 2 

Diana, The Goddess, p. 174 167-5 

Diana, Temple of, p. 297 41-2 

Diana, Temple of, how long in 

building, p. 238 8 

Diana, Temple of, when burned, p. 

228 4 

Dickens, Charles, p. 239 n 

Dictator of Rome, who was called 

from the Plow to be, p. 136 130 

Dido, Meaning of, p. 332 73 

Dido, Queen, p. 84 79 

Diogenes of Modern Times, p. 342. 84 
Discoveries of Land on Friday, p. 

423 173 

Disraeli, Isaac, p. 288 34-1 

" Divine City," p. 345 96 

" Divine Philosopher," who was 

called, p. 332 74 



Doane, George W., p. 312 49-3 

Dodge, Abigail, p. 115 109 

Domitian, Roman Emperor, p. 

203 218-12 

" Don Quixote," who wrote, p. 76.. 64 

" Doomsday Book," p. 342 82 

Douglas. Stephen A., p. 182 195 

Drake, Joseph R.,p. no 101 

Dramas, First and Last, of Shak- 

speare, p. 416 161 

Dramatists, First of English, p. 21.. 14 
Dramatists, Second of English, p. 

22 16 

Drawing, Century of, p. 399 145 

Drowned, Men who were, p. 372.... 124 
Drunk, Great Man drawn through 

the Streets of Paris while, p. 321. 61 

Dryburgh Abbey, p. 222 7 

Dryden, John, p. 28 18-3 

Du Barry, Countess, p. 210 224 

Dudevant, Marie, p. 55 43 

Duels, Byron and Moore's, p. 379... 132 

Dumas, Alexandre, p. 253 18 

" Dunciad," who wrote the, p. 36... 21 
Diirer, Albrecht, German Artist, p. 

340 81-4 

Dwight, Timothy, p. 48 40 



E. 



East, Queen of the, p. 120 117 

Edgeworth, Maria, p. 274 31-2 

Edict of Nantes, p. 370 121 

" Edinburgh Reviewers," p 60 51 

Edmund, English King, p. 139 133 

Edward III., English King, p. 113. 107 
Edward V., English King, p. 117... 114 

Egeria, The Goddess, p. 344 94 

Eglamour, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 !4i 

Egypt, First King of, p. 82 74 

Egypt, when it became a Province 

of Rome, p. 196 218-2 

Egyptian History, when lost to the 

World, p. 416 162 

Elgin Marbles, p. 371 122 

" Elia," who was called, p. 15 6 

Eliot, George, p. 427 178 

Elis, City of, p. 343 90 

" Elissa," who was called, p. 84 79 

Elizabeth, English Queen, p. 327... 71 

Elliott, Ebenezer, p. 246 5 

Eloquence, Father of Latin, p. 205.. 220 
Embalming, where first done, p. 370 120 
Emperor who knew the Name of 

every Soldier in his Army, p. 135 129 
Emperor, who was made, when ex- 
pecting Death, p. 205 221 

English Crown, who refused be- 
cause he dared not accept the, p. 

153 ; 150 

English, First Book printed in, p. 

346 101 

Epic Poem, what is an, p. 437 189 

Epic Poetry, Father of, p. 175 171 



47° 



INDEX. 



Epileptic Fits, what Great Man had, 

P- 274 28 

" Erin," Bard of, p. 65 55 

Escurial, Palace of the, p. 428 180 

Essex, Earl of, p. 331 71 

" Eternal City," what was called 

the, p. 452 193 

" Ettrick Shepherd," who was 

called the, p. 14 5 

Euclid, Mathematician, p. 77 65 

Europe, Tour of, made on Foot, p. 

313 Si 

Evans, Marian C, p. 428 178 



F. 



" Fabius, The American," who was 

called, p. 191 216 

" Farmer's Boy," Poem of, p. 293.. 39 

Fasces, The Roman, p. 370 119 

Female Animal Painter, The Great- 
est, p. 360 in 

Female Authors who never married, 

P- 274 30 

Female Traveler, The Greatest, p. 



70. 



53 



Fern, Fanny, p. 178 184 

Ferumbras, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 141 

Fifteenth Century, p. 399 145 

Fire, The God of, p. 173 167-6 

Fire, The Goddess of, p. 173 167-3 

Flies, what Emperor amused him- 
self by killing, p. 406 149 

Florin, Value of a, p. 232 2 

" Fornarina," Raphael's, p. 322... 65-2 

Fotheringay Castle, p. 223 9 

Fourteenth Century, p. 396 144 

Fox, Charles James, p. 207 223 

Francis, Sir Philip, p. 104 93 

French Dramatic Poets, Prince of, 

P- 87 83 

French Prose, one of the greatest 

writers of, p. 57 49 

Fresco, Painting in, p. 379 130 

Fulton, Robert, p. 417 168 

Fulvia, Roman Lady, p. 418 169 



G. 



Gaheris, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 141 

Gainsborough, Sir Thomas, p. 324 67-3 
Galahad, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 141 

Galba, Roman Emperor, p. 199... 218-7 

Galiiee, Little Man of, p. 127 121 

Galileo, p. 288 34~5 

Gall, Franz Joseph, p. 220 233 

Games, into what Nation never in- 
troduced, p. 417 165 

Games, Nation that first invented 
Public, p. 332 72 



Gawain, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 141 

Generals who embraced before fight- 
ing, p. 379 129 

"Genre" Pictures, what are, p. 

448 '-. 191-7 

Geologist a Mason, p. 333 76 

George III., English King, p. 232... 6-1 
Geraint, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 141 

Ghiberti. Lorenzo, p. 399 146-3 

Giant, The Little, p. 182 195 

Giants in History, p. 190 215 

Gibbon, Edward, p. 261 , 2I- 4 

" Gil Bias," who wrote, p. 177 183 

" Gilpin, John," who wrote, p. 176 180 

Giotto, Italian Artist, p. 398 144-2 

Glass, Inventors of, p. 379 128 

Goethe, Johann von, p. 42 30 

Gold, where first coined, p. 332 72 

Goodrich, Samuel G., p. 183 198 

Gout, Men died of, p. 274 27 

Gracchi, Mother of the, p. 162 152 

Gracchus, Tiberius, p. 147 141 

Graham, James, p. 127 120 

Grain and Harvest, The Goddess of, 

p 173.... 167-2 

Grammarians, Prince of, p. 190 213 

Gray, Thomas, p. 265 23-5 

Great Men deformed, p. 393 140 

" Greece, Bee of," who was called, 

P- i45 I4S 

Greece, Key of, p. 346 100 

Greek Architecture, Three Orders 

of, p. 343 87 

Greek Philosophy, Sects of, p. 369.. 118 

Greenwood, Grace, p. 179 186 

Gridiron, Palace built like a, p. 428 180 

Grundy, Mrs., p. 175 174 

Guido, Italian Artist, p. 306 47-1 

" Gulliver's Travels," who wrote, p. 



49- 



Gunpowder, who invented, p. 107.... 97 
Gustavus Adolphus, p. 183 199 



"Hail Columbia," who wrote, p. 107 96 
Hair turned Gray in a Single Night, 

P- 346 103 

Hallam, Arthur Henry, p. 84 78 

Halpine, Charles G.,p. 180 192 

Hamilton, Gail, p. 115 109 

Hammers, Poem composed amid 

the noise of, p. 292 39 

Handel, George Frederick, p. 361 114-1 

Hannibal, p. 284 32-3 

Hansburg, Siege of, p. 418 170 

Harper, King disguised as a, p. 452 192 

Haydn, Joseph, p. 362 114-2 

Hazlitt, William, p. 410 itt-'S 

Head thrown in Human Blood, p. 

181 194 

Heathen Moralists, Greatest of, p. 

186 203 



INDEX. 



471 



NO. 

Heber, Reginald, p. 373 124-3 

Heine, Heinrich, p. 466 207 

Helen of Greece, p. 193 217 

Heliopolis, Elgyptian Town, p. 232. 1 

Hellas, Country called, p. 311 48 

" Henriade," Author of, p. 39 26 

Henry III., English King, p. 218... 229 
Henry VIII., Noted Characters in 

Reign of, p. 95 88 

Henry VIII., Wives of, p. 337 80 

Hercules, Twelve Labors of, p. 315. 54 

Herodotus, p. 36 20 

Herschel, Sir William, p. 125 119 

Heyne, Christian, p. 382 i35 _ 8 

Hieroglyphics, First Reader of, p. 

92 8 5 

Highland Mary, p. 175 173 

Hills, Cities built on, p. 379 126 

Hindoos, River sacred to the, p. 

321 62 

Hippocrates, p. 82 73 

History, Father of, p. 36 20 

Hogarth, William, p. 438 191-1 

Hogg, James, p. 14 5 

Holbein, Hans, p. 433 188 

Holland House, p. 461 205 

Holland, Lady, p. 462 205 

Holland, Lord, p. 462 205 

Holyrood, Abbey of, p. 348 104 

" Home, Sweet Home," who wrote, 

p. in 104 

Homer, p. 37 24 

Hopkinson, Joseph, p. 107 96 

Horace, p. 456 197 

Horses, City famed for fine, p. 343. 90 

Horses, two celebrated, p. 394 142 

House of Commons, when founded, 

p. 218 229 

Howard, Catherine, p. 33S 80-5 

" Hudibras," Author of, p. 99 89 

Human Heart, Poet of the, p. 44.... 33 
Human Sacrifices, Nation that 

made, p. 379 127 

Humboldt, Baron von, p. 421 172 

Hume, David, p. 259 21-2 

Hunt, Leigh, p. 408 155-1 

Hunting, The Goddess of, p. 174. 176-5 



I. 



Iliad, Author of, p. 37 24 

Incitatus, The Horse, p. 396 142 

Independence, Signers of American, 

P- 412 157 

Independence, Writer of American, 

p. 210 225 

India, East, added to Great Brit- 
ain, p. 233 6-1 

Indolence, Poet famed for his, p. 

253 15 

Infidels, Authors who were, p. 259. 21 
Inquisition, where established, p. 

227 16 

Intemperate, Authors who were, p. 
255 19 



NO. 

Invincible Armada, p. 249 9 

Ionic Philosophy, p. 369 118 

Ireland, when added to Great Brit- 
tain, p. 234 6-1 

"Iron Duke," who called the, p. 

176 182 

" Ironside," who called the, p. 139. 133 
" Ironsides," Soldiers called the, p. 

157 J 5o 

Irving, Washington, p. 47 39 

Italian Poets, Prince of, p. 206 222 



J. 

Janus, Temple of, p. 344 94 

Japan, Coin of, p. 322 63 

Jefferson, Thomas, p. 225 210 

Jerrold, Douglas, p. 464 206 

Jewels, Crown, of England, p. 345. 99 
Jewels dissolved in Sauces, p. 250.. 11 
Jewish Historians, The earliest, p. 

38 25 

J. G.'s, who were the, p. 71 61 

~ohn, English King, p. 252 13 

ohnson, Dr. Samuel, p. 100 90 

onson, Benjamin, p. 24 18-1 

osephine, Empress of France, p. 

279 32-2 

Josephus, Flavius, p. 38 25 

Jubal, p. 64 54 

Junius, Letters of, p. 104 93 

Juno, The Goddess, p. 173 167-1 

Jupiter, Council of, p. 171 167 

Jupiter, The God, p. 171 167-1 

Jupiter Olympus, Statue of, p. 299. 41-5 
Jurists, most illustrious of Ameri- 
can, p. 108 98 

Jury, Commencement of trials by, 

P- 253 13 

Just, who was called the, p. 74 62 

Justin 1., Roman Emperor, p. 253... 16 
Juvenal, Roman Poet, p. 182 196 



K. 

Keats, John, p. 335 77-2 

Kemble, Frances Anne, p. 300 42 

Key, Francis Scott, p. 105 94 

Key of Egypt, p. 359 109 

" King of Blood," p. 165 156 

King carried Captive to England, p. 

135 128 

" King-Maker," who called the, p. 

"5 "I 

" King of Men," p. 81 71 

Kings, Flower of, p. 176 181 

Kingsley, Charles, p. 20 12 

Knickerbocker, Diedrich, p. 47 39 

Knight " without Fear and without 

Reproach," p. 127 123 

Knowles, Herbert, p. 321 58-15 

Kohinoor, meaning of, p. 327 68 

Koran, where done in Mosaics, p. 

419 *7* 



472 



INDEX. 



Koran, who wrote the, p. 116 113 

Kotzebue, August Friedrich, p. 323. 66 



L. 

Lacedaemon, City called, p. 301 43 

Ladies' Canvass in England, p. 406. 150 

" Lady of the Lake," p. 394 141 

"La Joconde," Leonardo's, p. 322. 65-1 

Lake Moeris, p. 300 41-6 

" Lake Poets," who were the, p. 

245 3 

Lamb, Charles, p. 15 6 

Landon, Letitia E., p. 146 139 

Landscape Painters, p. 323 67 

Landseer, Sir Edwin, p. 272 23-12 

Language, a universal, p. 189 210 

Laocoon, p. 167 159 

Lapidaries, greatest in the World, p. 

150 147 

Launcelot, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 141 

Launfal, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 141 

Laureate, Office of Poet, p. 273 25 

Laureate, who were Poets, p. 24... 18 
Lavinia, Daughter of Titian, p. 

403 ■ 147-3 

Law, John, p. 460 207 

Law, Men of Letters who studied, 

P- 3 8 o 135 

Lawrence, Sir Thomas, p. 419 172-4 

Lee, Nathaniel, p. 257 19-5 

Lee, Richard Henry, p. 188 207 

Leibnitz, p. 189 210 

Leicester, Earl of, p. 330 71 

" L. E. L.," who was, p. 146 139 

Leonidas, p. 336 78 

Leonardo, p. 267 23-7 

Le Sage, p. 177 183 

Leucas, Rock, p. 343 88 

Levasseur, Therese, p. 204 219 

Life lost by raising Hand to Head, 

P- J 47 141 

Linen, first manufacture of, p. 379.... 128 

Linnaeus, Charles von, p. 79 69 

" Lion of the North," p. 183 199 

Lippincott, Mrs. Sarah Jane, p. 179. 186 

Little, Thomas, p. 180 191 

Locke, D. R., p. 113 106 

Locke, John, p. 187 2c6 

Logic, where first made a Science, 

p. 222 2 

Logician, First Greek, p. 71 60 

Longfellow, Henry W., p. 391 138 

" Loose-girt Boy," p. 141 135 

Lorraine, Claude, Artist, p. 324... 67-1 

Lotos-Eater, p. 306 46 

Louis XIV. of France, p. 184 200 

Love, The Goddess of, p. 174 167-6 

Lovell, Robert, p. 296 40-3 

Luther. Martin, p. 243 1 

Luxor, Column of, p. 347 103 

Lytton, Sir Robert, p. 57 44 



NO. 

M. 

Mackenzie, Henry, p. 168 161 

" Madman of the North," p. 185.... 201 
Maecenas, Patron of Letters, p. 

197 218-2 

" Maga," Magazine called, p. 380.. 133 

Maginn, William, p. 179 187 

Magna Charta, p. 252 13 

Mahomet, p. 116 113 

Mahony, Francis, p. 176 178 

Maintenon, Madame de, p. 185 200 

" Man of the People," p. 207 223 

" Manchester Poet," who was 

called, p. 185 203 

Mantilla, regarded sacred by Law, 

p. 417 166 

Marat, p. 212 226 

Marathon, Battle of, p. 74 62 

Marie Antoinette, p. 346 103 

Marie Louise, p. 280 32-2 

Marquis, The Great, p. 127 12c 

Marriage forbidden to Bishops, p. 

228 1 

Marriage in Babylon, p. 237 1 

Mars, The God, p. 172 162-5 

Marshal who had Five Horses killed 

under him, p. 428 179 

Marshall, John, p. 108 98 

Marvel, Ik, p. 185 202 

"Marvelous Boy," The, p. 244 2 

Mary, Queen of Scots, p. 348 104 

Mathematics, Master of, p. 77 65 

Mayflower, The, p. 424 173 

Medicine, Father of, p. 82 73 

Medicis, Catherine de, p. 349 104 

Melrose Abbey, p. 415 159 

Memory, Poet of, p. 36 19 

Men never married, p. 265 23 

Men noted for smallness of Stature, 

P- 393 x 40 

Menes, King of Egypt, p. 82 74 

Mercury, The God, p. 172 ^1~Z 

Meredith, Owen, p. 57 44 

Mermaid Tavern, p. 274 26 

Messalina, p. 205 221 

Messenger of the Gods, p. 172 167-3 

Metastasio, Italian Poet, p. 382... 135-9 

Milan, Cathedral of, p. 314 52 

Miller, Hugh, p. 333 76 

Miller, Joaquin, p. 94 86 

Miltiades, p. 74 62 

Milton, John, p. 45 38 

Milton, Number of Wives, p 239.... 10 

Minerva. The Goddess, p. 174 167-4 

Minor King, The, p. 117 114 

Mitchell, Donald G., p. 185 212 

Modred, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 x 4i 

Monarch, The Great, p. 184 200 

Montgomery, James, p. 54 42-4 

Montgomery, Robert, p. 290 36-2 

Moore, Thomas, p. 65 55 

Moralists, greatest of Heathen, p. 

186 205 

More, Hannah, p. 275 30-5 



INDEX. 



473 



More, Sir Thomas, p. 95 88-1 

Morgadour, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 

394 141 

" Morning Star of English Poets," 

P- 44 34 

Mosaics, p. 238 9 

Muhlbach, Louisa, p. 109 100 

Mundt, Klara, p. 109 100 

Murillo, Artist, p. 338 81-1 

Music, The God of, p. 172 167-4 

Musical Composers Childless, p. 361 114 



N. 

Nameless City, p. 321 60 

Napoleon, p. 278 32-2 

Nasby, Petroleum B., p. 113 106 

Naturalist, Greatest, of his Age, p. 

78 68 

Nature, High-Priest of, p. 68 57 

Navigator eaten by Cannibals, p. 427 177 
Nelson, English Admiral, p. 281... 32-2 

Neptune, The God, p. 172 167-2 

" Nero of the North," p. 183 197-4 

Nero, Roman Emperor, p. 216 228 

Netherlands, what is known as the, 

P- 437 • 19° 

Newstead Abbey, who owned, p. 

189 209 

Ney, Marshal, p. 163 154 

Nineveh, Walls of, p. 361 112 

North, Christopher, p. 18 10 

Norton, Mrs. Caroline, p. 247 6 

Novel, Greatest, ever written by a 

Woman, p. 253 17 

Novel sold for Forty Thousand 

Pounds, p. 427 178 

Novel written in One Week, p. 277. 31 
Novelist, a Colored Gentleman, p. 

253 18 

Novelists, Father of English, p. 57.. 47 



Numa, Roman King, p. 150 14 

Numa, Roman King, p. 344. 



94 



" Oat-fed Reviewers," who were 

called the, p. 59 51 

O'Connell, Daniel, p. 180 188 

O'Doherty, Morgan, p. 179 187 

Olney, Bard of, p. 87 84 

Olympic Games, p. 432 186 

Olympus, Mount, p. 222 3 

Opium-Eater, The English, p. 19... 11 

Optic, Oliver, p. 180 189 

Oracles, most celebrated of the 

Grecian, p. 232 4 

Oranges, who carried them to Eng- 
land, p. 168 160 

Orators, Prince of, p. 76 63 

O'Reilly, Private Miles, p. 180 192 

Organ and Harp, who invented the, 

P 64 54 

Origen, p. 78 67-2 



40 



NO. 

Ossian, p. 288 34-3 

Otho, Roman Emperor, p. 200.... 218-8 

"Ouida,"p. 115 no 

Ovid, p. 380 135-3 

Ox, who was called the Dumb, p. 

175 176 

Oxford, University of, p. 148... 142 



P. 



Paine, Thomas, p. 260 21-3 

Painter, Greatest, before Christ, p. 

84 80 

Painters, Prince of, p. 439 180 

Painting, Italian Schools of, p. 426 176 
Paintings, Finest Collection in the 

World, p. 345 97 

Palaces, English Royal, p. 432 182 

Palatine Hill, p. 222 4 

Palfrey, John G., p. 74 61-7 

" Paper-saving Poet," p. 44 32 

Paradise, Poet of, p. 45 38 

Parchment, where first made, p. 227 17 

Park, Mungo, p. 372 124-1 

Parley, Peter, p. 183 198 

Parliament, The Long, p. 316 55 

Parr, Catherine, p. 338 80-6 

Parrhasius, p. 431 181 

Parthenon, p 371 122 

Partington, who wrote Mrs., p. 57.. 48 

Parton, Mrs. Sarah P., p. 178 184 

" Patriarch of German Literature," 

P- .42 30 

Patricians of Rome, p. 147 140 

Paul, Jean, p. 175 177 

Payne, John Howard, p. in 104 

Pearls dissolved in Wine, p. 133 127 

Pearls, two famous, p. 306 : 5 

Pelleas, Sir, Knight of R. T., p. 394 141 

Pelusium, City of, p. 359 109 

Pendulum, what suggested the, p. 

342 83 

Percival, John G., p. 72 61-3 

Pergolesi, p. 365 114-5 

Perrault, Charles, p. 169 163 

Persian King who knew the Name 

of every Soldier in his Army, p. 

327 70 

Petrarch and Laura, p. 381 1 35~7 

Pfefffer, Madame Ida, p. 70 58 

Pharsalia, Battle of, p. 142 135 

Phidias, p. 44 31 

Philippi, Battle of, p. 196 218-2 

Phrenology, Founder of, p. 220 233 

Phryne.p. 426 .' 174 

Pianos first invented, p. 228 2 

Pictures given away because no 

Money could buy them, p. 430 181 

Pierpont, John G., p. 71 61-1 

Pisa, Leaning Tower of, p. 300 41-7 

Pitt, William, p. 178 185 

Plato, p. 332 74 

Pleasures, Poets of the, p. 52 42 

Plebeians of Rome, p. 147 140 

Pliny, p. 393 139 



474 



INDEX. 



Plowman's Son, An Emperor a, 

P 253 16 

Plutarch, p. 317 56 

Poc, Edgar Allen, p. 255 19-1 

Poem sold for Five Pounds, p. 259. 20 
Poem sold for Two Thousand 

Pounds, p. 265 22 

Poem written to defray Funeral Ex- 
penses, p. 359 107 

Poet Fifteen Years writing a Poem, 

p. 344. 95 

Poetess, England s greatest, p. 79... 70 

Poetry, Father of English, p. 21 15 

" Poets' Corner," what is known as, 

P- 344 93 

" Poet's Poet," The, p. 57 45 

Poitiers, Battle of, p. 113 107 

Politeness of an English King, p. 

4i3 158 

Polo, Marco, p. 361 113 

Pope, Alexander, p. 13 4 

Pork, Nations not allowed, p. 333... 75 

Porter, Jane, p. 274 30-1 

Portrait-Painters, The great, p. 438 191 

Porus, King of India, p. 190 215 

Poussin, Nicolas, p. 326 67-4 

Poverty, Great Man noted for his, 

P- 274 29 

Prado, Palace of the, p. 345 98 

Prado, Palace of the, p. 238 6 

Praed, Winthrop Mackworth, p. 

318-. 58-3 

Praxiteles, p. 425 174 

Prescott, William H., p. 289 34-6 

President's Cabinet, Members of 

the, p. 417 167 

Prince carried a King captive to 

England, p. 135 128 

Prince of Wales, Title of, p. 230 6 

Pringle and Cleghorn, First Editors 

of Blackwood, p. 393 140 

Printing introduced into England, 

P- 95 87 

Prison, Works composed in, p. 290 37 

Procter, Adelaide Anne, p. 275 30-4 

Procter, Bryan Waller, p. 17 9 

Proserpine, p. 139 134 

Protestant, Origin of Name, p. 226 14 

Prout, Father, p. 176 178 

Publisher, what Poet was a, p. 246 4 

Punic Wars, p. 237 3 

Punic Wars, Generals who fought 

in the, p. 150 146 

" Puritan Poet," The, p. m 103 

Pye, Henry James, p. 31 18-6 

Pyramids, The Egyptian, p. 291.... 41-1 
Pyramids, Number of, p. 237 2 



Q. 



Quaker Poet, The American, p. 248 8 
Quaker Poet, The English, p. 248... 7 
Queen led to Rome in Chains of 
Gold, p. 432 185 



Queen committed Suicide to escape 

the Enemy, p. 253 14 

" Queen of Heaven," Goddess 

called, p. 173 167-1 

Queen owned a Thousand Dresses, 

P- 327 7 1 

Queen, who was called the White, 

P- 174 169 



R. 



Rabelais, The English, p. 175 172 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, p. 132 126 

" Rambler," who wrote the, p. 100. 90 

Ramee, Miss De la, p. 115 no 

Randolph, Peyton, p. 176 r79 

Raphael, p 269 23-8 

" Rasselas," who wrote, p. 277 31 

Recamier, Madame, p. 208 223 

Reigns, Longest, on Record, p. 232. 6 

Religious Painters, p. 338 81 

Rembrandt, Artist, p. 471 191-n 

Retreat, most remarkable on Rec- 
ord, p. 407 152 

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, p. 442 191-6 

Richard III., English King, p. 117. 114 

Richardson, Samuel, p. 367 116-6 

Richest Man of Ancient Times, p. 

165 155 

Richter, Jean Paul Friedrich, p. 175. 177 

Rizzio, p. 348 104 

Robespierre, p. 165 156 

Rogers, Samuel, p. 16 8 

Roman Poets, Prince of, p. 456 199 

Roman Poets, The last of the, p. 

182 196 

Romans, most learned of the, p. 166. 157 

Rome, City the Rival of, p. 359 108 

Rome, First King of, p. 85 81 

Rome, who urged to accept the 

Crown of, p. 150 148 

Romulus, p. 85 81 

Roses, War of the, p. 115 in 

Rossini, p. 365 114-6 

Round Table, King Arthur's, p. 

394 141 

Rousseau, Jean Jacques, p. 264.... 21-6 

Rowe, Nicholas, p. 31 18-4 

Roxana, p. 388 136 

Royal Academy of Art, The Lon- 
don, when founded, p. 444 191-6 

Rubens, Peter Paul, p. 317 47-2 

Rubicon, The River, p. 149 144 

Rye-House Plot, p. 416 158 



Saavedra, Isabel de, p. 104 92 

Sabines, Rape of the, p. 237 5 

Sacca, Festival of, p. 343 91 

Safety-lamp, Inventor of the, p. 117. 115 
Salaries of the Reigning Monarchs 
of Europe, p. 457 199 



INDEX. 



475 



Sand, George, p. 55 43 

Sandwich Islands, who discovered, 



Sappho. Greek Poetess, p. 343 88 

Saxe, John G., p. 72 61-2 

Scheffer, Ary, p. 449 i9 I- 9 

Schiller, Johann von, p. 383 135-10 

Schumann, p. 366 114-9 

Scipio, p. 286 30-3 

Scott, Sir Walter, p. 10 3 

Sculpture, Celebrated Pieces of 

Greek, p. 342 85 

Sculpture, Father of, p. 44 31 

Sea, God of the, p. 172 167-2 

Seer, Swedish, p. 70 59 

Selkirk, Alexander, p. 45 36 

Semiramis, p. 189 211 

Settlement, oldest in United States, 

P- 337 79 

Seventeen Provinces, what called, 

_, P 423-- v 173 

Seymour, Jane, p. 337 80-3 

Shadwtll, Thomas, p. 27 18-2 

" Shakspeare, Sister of," p. 250 10 

" Shakspeare of Theology," p. 243. 1 

Shakspeare, William, p. 9 1 

Shelley, Percy Bysshe, p. 262 21-5 

Shewell, Miss Betty, p. 152 149 

Shillabcr, B. P., p. 57 48 

Shoemaker, what Poet was a, p. 

292 38 

Sidney, Sir Philip, p. 319 58-8 

Sierras, Poet of the, p. 94 86 

Signet, Writer of the, p. 315 53 

Silk Stockings, First Pair worn in 

England, p. 352 104 

Sixteenth Century, p. 401 147 

" Social War," p. 312 50 

" Society Poet," p. 81 72 

Socrates, p. 186 205 

Solar System, The true, p. 87 82 

Song, Father of, p. 45 37 

South Sea Bubble, p. 460 204 

Southey, Robert, p. 445 3 

Sparta, p. 301 43 

Spenser, Edmund, p. 31 18-7 

Spires, Diet of, p. 243 1 

Stael, Madame de, p. 262 21-4 

" Stagirite," who called, p. 36 22 

" Star-Spangled Banner," who 

wrote, p. 105 94 

Statira, p. 388 136 

Statues, Cathedral that has Ten 

Thousand, p. 314 52 

St. Albans, Sage of, p. 10 2 

St. Bartholomew's Day, Massacre 

of, p. 230 7 

Steamboat, Name of First Ameri- 
can, p. 417 168 

Steele, Sir Richard, p. 258 J 9 _ 7 

Stones, meaning of Precious, p. 457. 200 
St. Paul's, London, Architect of, p. 

114 108 

St. Peter's, Rome, Architect of, p. 

129 125 

St. Peter's, Cathedral of, p. 234 7 



" Straw Hat," Rubens's Picture of 

the, p. 322 65-4 

Strickland, Agnes, p. 276 30-3 

Suicide, Celebrated Men who com- 
mitted, p. 346 102 

Swain, Charles, p. 185 203 

Swedenburg, Emanuel, p. 70 59 

" Sweet Hour of Prayer," Author 

of, p. 162 153 

Swift, Jonathan, p. 49 41 

Sylla, p. 162 151 



T. 



Taj Mahal, Temple of, p. 419 171 

Tapestry, where first worked, p. 

227 18 

Tasso, Torquato, p. 206 222 

Taylor, Bayard, p. 313 51 

Telescope, Inventor of the, p. 288. 34-5 
Telescope, Inventor of the Reflect- 
ing, p. 125 119 

Temples on the Acropolis, p. 371.. 123 

Tennyson, Alfred, p. 23 17 

Terentia, Wife of Cicero, p. 376 125 

Terror, Reign of, p. 228 5 

Tertullian, p. 77 67-1 

Thales, p. 83 76 

" The Die is cast," p. 149 144 

Theorists, The Glory of, p. 187 206 

Thermometer, who invented, p. 

288 34-5 

Thermopylae, Pass of, p. 336 78 

Thinker, The great, p. 273 24 

Thomson, James, p. 10 2 

Thought, Century the Age of, p. 

39 6 •. : : i44 

Three Writers married Sisters, p. 

293 40 

Tiberius, Roman Emperor, p. 

197 218-3 

Tiekell, Thomas, p. 322 64 

Timarete, p. 188 208 

Tintoretto, Artist, p. 400 147-1 

Titian, p. 402 J 47~3 

Titus, Roman Emperor, p. 390 137 

Tobacco introduced into England, 

p. 132 126 

Tongue of a Conqueror pierced with 

a Needle, p. 418 169 

Tower, The London, p. 290 35 

Town, oldest in the World, p. 232.. 1 

Trafalgar, Battle of, p. 282 32-2 

Tragedy, Inventor of, p. 40 27 

Trajan, Column of, p. 436 188 

Trajan, Roman Emperor, p. 458 201 

Tullia, Roman Matron, p. 106 95 

Turgeneff, Russian Novelist, p. 109. 99 

Turner, William, Artist, p. 452 195 

Twain, Mark, p. 67 56 

Tweed, Author lived on the, p. 318. 57 
Twickenham, Little Man of, p. 13.. 4 
Two Cities besitged Ten Years, p. 

367 "5 

Tyrrel, Sir James, p. 117 114 



476 



INDEX. 



U, 

Ulm, Battle of, p. 282 32-2 

Unknown, The Great, p. 10 3 

Unlucky Year for Marrying, p. 452. 194 

Unwin, Mary, p. 89 84 

Uranus, Discoverer of the Planet, p. 
190 214 



V, 



Valentia, Name of City, p. 321 60 

Van Dyke, Sir Anthony, p. 439... 161-3 

Van Dyke, Pictures of, p. 343 89 

Varro, Roman Poet, p. 166 157 

Vatican, p. 359 no 

Veii, City of, p. 367 115 

Velasquez, Artist, p. 446 I 9 I_ 7 

Venus, the Goddess, p. 174 167-6 

Veronese, Paul, Artist, p. 402 147-2 

Vespasian, Roman Emperor, p. 

202 218-10 

Vesta, The Goddess, p. 137 X ^1~Z 

Vestal, Roman, buried alive, p. 

432 183 

Vesuvius, Life lost at, p. 393 139 

Vinci, Leonardo di, p. 267 2 3~7 

Virgil, p. 456 197 

Vitellius, Roman Emperor, p. 201 218-9 

Voltaire, Francois Marie, p. 39 26 

Vulcan, The God, p. 173 167-6 



W. 



Wagner, Richard, p. 366 

Walpole, Sir Robert, p. 180.. 

War, God of, p. 172 

Warton, Thomas, p. 33 

Warwick, Earl of, p. 115 

Washington, George, p. 191 



114-8 
... 190 

167-5 
. 18-9 
.. in 
.. 216 



Waterloo, Battle of, p. 284 32— 

" We," when first used in Edicts, 

p. 406 14 

Wedding Ring, why worn on Left 

Hand, p. 228 

Wellington, Duke of, p. 176 18 

West, Benjamin, p. 151 14 

West, Emperor of the, p. 128 12 

Westminster Abbey, p. 415 16 

Westminster Abbey, Men buried in, 

P- 344 

"Whig and Tory, Origin of, p. 413 



White, Henry Kirke, p. 357 106 



NO. 

8-10 



16 



Whitehead, Wm., p. 34 

Whittier, John G., p. 248 

Wilkes, Charles, p. 119 

William II., English King, p. 149... 143 

William the Conqueror, p. 141 138 

Wilson, John, p. 18 10 

Wisdom, The Goddess of, p. 174. 176-4 
Wise Men of Greece, The Seven, 

p. 41 28 

" Wisest, Brightest, Meanest of 

Mankind," p. 219 230 

" Wizard of the North," p. 186 204 

Wolf, Charles, p. 320 58-9 

Wolsey, Cardinal, p. 98 88-3 

Woman's Canvass in England, p. 

406 150 

Woman who murdered her Husband 

and Father, p. 106 95 

Women carrying Men on their 

Backs, p. 418 170 

Women forbidden Society, p. 417.... 164 
Women, Four Pictures of beautiful, 

P 322 65 

Wonders of the World, The Seven, 

p. 296 41 

Wool-Gatherer, Poet a, p. 321 59 

Wordsworth, Wm., p. 33 18-8 

World, Population of the, p. 457 198 

World, who first sailed around the, 

p. 122 118 

Worms, Diet of, p. 244 1 

Wren, Sir Christopher, p. 114 108 



Xantippe, p. 187 205 

Xenophon, p. 150 145 

Xerxes, p. 112 105 



Year remarkable for Births of cele- 
brated Men, p. 418 172 

"Yeast," Author of, p. 20 12 

Young, Great Men died, p. 318 58 



Zaccheus, p. 127 121 

Zama, Battle of, p. 408 153 

Zenobia, p. 121 117 

Zeuxis, Artist, p. 430 181 



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